Bonds
by Sherlockdetective99
Summary: A movie night with Alfred goes horrifically wrong when the man never shows. The world is thrust into chaos as nations disappear without a trace, and the remaining countries must identify the culprit, whom they find is none other than one of their own...
1. Disappearance

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or any of its characters. This much should be obvious.**_

_**Note: This story isn't intended to contain yaoi or romance, but I don't have any power to stop you from seeing it that way.**_

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><p><strong>Bonds<strong>

Canada flipped the pancake once, watching the circular piece of dough soar through the air before landing back in the pan with a satisfying sizzle. Giving a cautious sniff, he proceeded to slip the mouth watering creation onto a stack of twenty four others. Carefully, he turned off the stove and handed the enormous pile of pancakes to the small white bear that sat eagerly at his feet.

"Here you go, Kumagorou. Put it on the table and add half the bottle of light maple syrup."

"Who?" The bear asked, taking the plate in his furry paws as he gazed up at him with solemn eyes.

"I'm Canada." The nation in question replied automatically, long used the inquiry, before proceeding to place the cooking utensils in the sink. The polar bear made a mental note of his owner's name for perhaps the fifty millionth time and lumbered off.

This week, he had been blessed with the good fortune of not being mistaken for America a single time, therefore the reason why he was allowing himself such a large treat. Any week that he wasn't beaten up for America's blunders was a good week to him.

Unfortunately for Canada, as he sat down in front of the more or less dripping pancakes (beside Kumajirou who was making a mess of himself), he truly believed that today would be a peaceful day.

And, again unfortunately, Canada was wrong. So very wrong.

Just as he was about to begin with the first of fifteen pancakes (Kumajirou had helped himself to ten), the familiar tune of his national anthem trickled into his ears.

_Oh Canada, our home and native land…_

Canada frowned, his first bite of pancake hovering a few centimetres away from his mouth. For a moment he contemplated over what was more important: eating or answering his cell.

A glance at the screen informed him that it was his brother calling. Canada gave an inward groan. If he didn't answer, America would most likely continue to call him over and over again a minimum of fifteen times before eventually showing up at his doorstep an hour later. The only choice he really had was to give a small, resentful sigh before reaching into his pocket and pressing the device to his ear.

"Hello?"

"MATTIE!"

Oh joy.

'Mattie' gave a groan and jerked his head away from the phone sharply to avoid having his right eardrum blast out of the left side of his head.

"You don't have to yell, Alfred. I can hear you."

Canada replied, his voice about a tenth the volume of his brother's. The phone was still being held a foot away from his ear, and although the northern nation wasn't completely sure whether or not his southern counterpart could hear him, he definitely wasn't going to risk getting closer and going deaf because of it.

America either couldn't hear his comment or chose to ignore it, because Canada immediately was on the receiving end of an astonishingly undisrupted stream of words that must have been uttered at around a mile a minute, all in the same volume as before. This feat was only made more remarkable by the fact that Alfred sounded as if a pillow had been shoved into his mouth. Sure sign #1 that he was stuffing himself sick (if that was even possible) with hamburgers. How the blonde never got a stomach ache was a mystery Canada had yet to solve.

"M'tt! Egh uatt? 'Is 'eely 'ool 'orror 'oovy 'ust 'ame aou on ee vee ee! Io 'ee ehdin o'er in a 'ew 'inuts o 'ee an auch ih oeher! 'ehare a oh horn!"

As quickly as it had come, the voice on the other end ceased and Matthew was left with silence.

The northern nation spared a moment to look absolutely deadpanned before feeling his internal "Alfred translator" to kick. A few minutes of thought were required, and eventually, he decided it was safe to assume that his brother's almost indecipherable message had been: "Matt! Guess what? This really cool horror movie just came out on DVD! I'll be heading over in a few minutes so we can watch it together! Prepare the popcorn!"

Decades of listening to his southern neighbour talk with his mouth full had provided Matthew with the experience to understand what most other nations could not, and so it was with a heavy sigh and a downcast glance at his pancakes that he rose from his chair, heading away from his beloved pancakes.

He walked past Kumajirou (who was still gorging himself silly) and headed to the cupboard to pull out the popcorn. Canada always kept at least fifteen bags of America's favourite movie snack, not only because his brother could usually demolish it all in one sitting, but also because Alfred never gave him much of a warning before barging over, bringing with him an entire evening of cheesy acting, laughable costumes and all in all, a pretty pathetic excuse of a movie.

As Canada placed the popcorn in the microwave, he dimly recalled the first time his brother had decided to pull this stunt. It turned out, since Alfred was scared to death by cheesy horror movies for ten year olds and yet stubbornly insisted on watching them, the most powerful country in the world came to the conclusion that if he watched them with someone else, the scariness would be cut in half. This usually meant that he would head over to the nearest unfortunate country whenever some new thriller came out. And sadly, that nearest unfortunate country was Canada.

Well, he supposed that there was Mexico too. Not that it really made the situation any more positive.

With a sigh, Matthew remembered how he had attempted to avoid the situation the first time by calling back with the intent to explain that the heads up had simply been _too_ abrupt to follow through. He had received only another stream of unintelligible garble on the other end of the phone before Alfred showed up thirty minutes later anyways, with no memory of Matthew's earlier call. When America wanted something to happen, it usually happened. This was something Canada had learned the hard way.

When all fifteen bags of popcorn were popped and the couch flooded in bowls of the unhealthy snack, Matthew ran to his phone to dial his army. Knowing America, the nation would be heading over in a fighter jet to save time.

Canada had bad memories of the first time this happened. Not expecting his brother's method of travel, Alfred had been shot at a total of 36 times before he had the sense to call Matthew and inform him of the situation so that the military wouldn't turn both him and his precious plane into a patch of black soot on Canadian soil. Ever since, Canada always made sure to immediately inform the army of Alfred's abrupt visits. America's country definitely wouldn't be happy if they heard that their northern neighbour had shot down the physical embodiment of the United States, regardless of whose fault it was.

Once the army was informed of Alfred's visit and had provided their assurance that they would not shoot the man down, Canada ran back to the kitchen to scarf down his pancakes. They were now cold and thoroughly soaked, but he scarcely cared. America could move quite fast when he wanted to, and when it was for the sake of movie night, he moved pretty darned fast.

When everything was set (the DVD running, the pillows fluffed up, Kumajirou cleaned and his inhaler ready to use in case his asthma acted up from one of Alfred's death hugs), all that was left to do was wait. He knew he had little time before America arrived and all hell broke loose for the whole evening, therefore he decided to dedicate the few minutes he had left to curl up on the couch for some peace and quiet, knowing that there would no chance of anything that could be classified as anywhere near "peaceful" once a certain brother of his made his presence known.

For forty minutes he absorbed himself in his books, Kumajirou dozing on his lap and a novel in his hand. A glance at his watch informed him of how much time had passed, but he shrugged it off, knowing Alfred's lack of punctuality. This wasn't the first time it had happened after all.

After an hour, Canada frowned and put down his edition of _A__ Study __in __Scarlet_. He strolled over to the window to have a look outside, expecting to see a familiar blonde nation strolling down the sidewalk with a bag of burgers in one arm and a pile of movies in the other. He was somewhat surprised when he was met with empty, snow covered pavement. He gave a puzzled glance at the thickening layer of white and the flakes that fell from the sky, noting that it hadn't been there the last time he checked. Winter really came early this year.

Two hours later and he felt himself wondering just what could be holding up Alfred for so long. Pacing around the room, Canada was compelled to scrunch his eyebrows and take out his cell. One phone call later left him with no answers, as the device informed him that the receiver wasn't picking up. Frowning, the nation dismissed the small spark of anxiety dancing in his mind. This was America he was thinking about. Nothing could have possibly happened to _the_ United States, right?

Four hours passed by before Canada was officially worried. America was late quite often, but this seemed to be going a little too far. Alfred had taken a fighter jet after all. He should've touched down in around 20 minutes! What on earth was America doing? The line at McDonalds couldn't be that long, could it?

Six hours later saw Canada nearly climbing the walls in panic. He moved around his house like a blur, looking out of all the windows in case Alfred was approaching from a different direction in an attempt to surprise him. Contrary to popular belief, Matthew could be just as hyperactive as his brother when he wanted to. It just never quite kicked in until he became very worried.

At last, six hours and twenty minutes after he'd finished preparations, Matthew couldn't take it any more. Something was definitely off now. Even if America had decided to pull a prank on him, he wouldn't have kept Canada in the dark for such a long time. The longest it had ever taken for Alfred to arrive at his house was two hours, and even then it was due to the fact that he had somehow managed to break his leg while walking on flat ground.

In short, something was amiss.

_No,__ don__'__t __say __that!_ Canada reprimanded himself, clenching his hair as he half paced, half ran around his living room. _What am I think? __He__'__s__ America!__ The nation with the mind of a rock and the strength of a tank! It__'__s __not __like __anyone aside from Russia would think of doing something devious to him__, __right?_

But this wasn't true at all, Canada knew in spite of his attempt at optimism. His gaze darkened as he remembered the day of the September 11 attacks, the event that had pried open the world's eyes to the fact that America, while strong and powerful, was not invincible. He could be injured, he could be caught off guard, and provided the proper conditions were met, he could be killed.

Shuddering at the thought, the point was that even America could be in trouble right now, a risk Canada wasn't willing to take. He in no way doubted the strength of his brother, but he wasn't ready to get too confident about it. Something fishy was definitely going on, and he'd be darned if he didn't get to the bottom of it.

"Kumasanrou!" Canada called out to his pet, who was watching him worriedly from the couch with small, beady eyes. At the sound of his owner's voice, the polar bear got to his paws and made his way over to the blonde, who was already putting on his coat as fast as he could. He then sat at the nation's feet, continuing to look up at the sight of his master frantically slipping on his gloves and reaching for his hat, nearly knocking off his glasses in the process.

When all articles of clothing were on the right parts of his body, Canada scooped up his waiting pet and all but charged out of his house into the snow. A freezing sensation in his foot informed him that he'd forgotten to put one of his boots on and he cursed as he ran back inside to retrieve the aforementioned piece of footwear.

Making sure he hadn't forgotten anything this time, the country fumbled with his keys for a moment before locking the front door. He then turned around and checked the surrounding area carefully, half expecting his brother to pop out of no where and shout "BOO!" in his face.

That tiny fragment of hope shattered instantly as he observed that the snow was undisturbed except for his own footprints and the surroundings were completely Alfred-less, leaving him with no choice but to go out and look for his missing sibling.

Pulling up his scarf to protect himself from the harsh climate of the Canadian winter (which had arrived abnormally early this year), Canada started up his car and began the drive to Pearson Airport.

The entire way, he kept a careful eye on the streets, just in case he spotted a familiar American skipping down the streets, possibly with a broken leg or two. The thickening blizzard was of no help. Sadly, he was met with no results, and thirty minutes later, he pulled in to a specially reserved spot into the airport parking lot.

Canada practically burst through the doors (both his panicked expression and pet polar bear earning him a few odd looks) and headed immediately to the west side of the enormous building. He slipped through the crowd and occasionally muttered apologies to anyone he accidentally came in contact with before reaching a certain door near the D-E registration area.

This door was rather plain in appearance, its colour a simple shade of silver and its surface completely smooth, absent of any particularly distinguishing features. There was no sign on, above or beside it, therefore presenting no interest to the average passerby. The only vaguely remarkable thing about it was the highly advanced-looking security card scanner that was located to its left, a few feet away from the drinking fountain.

People of all ages and ethnicities walked past it without a second glance, their hands occupied with suitcases and luggage carts. Not one presented the slightest bit of attention to the simple, unnoticeable door, embedded in the wall.

No one, that is, except for Canada.

With a glance in both directions to make sure there were no eyes on him (then again, he wasn't noticed 90% of the time anyways), the nation held Kumajirou in one arm while fumbling through one of the many pockets on the inside of the winter coat. After finding the right compartment, he proceeded to hastily pull out a security card, its appearance as simple as the door that stood about a foot away, save for the single corner that was coloured red.

He took a step towards the security card scanner and huddled close to shield his actions from the many gazes wandering around the area. Discreetly, he tapped the red corner against the screen three times and whispered the words, "Request for entry." into a dark patch near the top of the scanner.

Immediately, the screen was lit up with blinking lights before the message "Authorization for entry granted." was displayed. At once, a small click was heard from inside the door and the country was able to push it open and slip behind it, away from the eyes of the general public that walked from just metres away.

The sight of a narrow corridor presented itself to Canada as he closed the door shut behind him. Once again, he set off at a brisk pace, the clacks of his boots against the spotless ground echoing throughout the otherwise silent passage way. At the end was yet another door, this one coloured completely white save for the maple leaf painted neatly in the middle of the blank space.

Canada removed one of his winter gloves, careful not to drop Kumajirou, before pressing his left index finger against the topmost point of the large maple leaf.

At once, a crease appeared in the middle of the door and the two halves slid into their respective walls. Now in front of his eyes lay a first class waiting room, complete with armchairs, desks, tables, a snack counter, a widescreen T.V. and a fancy looking computer with high-speed internet.

The moment Canada took his first step into the room, a woman with glasses and a clipboard appeared from a door in the left wall. She tipped her head respectively before walking towards him and pulling a pen from her shirt pocket.

"Good evening, Mr. Williams. For what purpose are you here today?"

Canada gave her a polite smile before sitting down on one of the armchairs, struggling to hide his anxiety and impatience.

"I apologize for my abrupt appearance. The United States of America informed me that he would be coming over for a visit. He most likely arrived in a fighter jet. Do you have any record of this?"

The woman shifted her glasses slightly before flipping through some of the pages on her clipboard. For a moment her eyes narrowed as she scanned the lists before, trying to locate the impromptu arrival of Alfred F. Jones, personification of the U.S. Then, apparently finding it, she looked back up with a smile.

"Yes, Mr. Jones' flight arrived today at approximately 2:07 p.m. It was rather… unexpected."

The woman paused and a slight grimace entered her features. Canada couldn't blame her. America gave headaches to practically everyone he knew, as well as all those unlucky enough to come across him.

Well, now he knew that Alfred had definitely touched down on Toronto soil. At the very the least, the plane hadn't crashed. The only problem now that remained would be his exact whereabouts.

"Thank you for the information. Now then, is there any record of where he went after his arrival?"

The woman frowned slightly and shook her head.

"Not on hand at the least. If it is necessary though, we can check the security footage."

Canada nodded once.

"Then please do. It may be of high importance."

The woman nodded slightly before exiting through the same door she had entered. Left alone in the lavish room, Canada could hide his worry no longer. An expression of great anxiety came over his facial features as he began pacing the room, his eyes dark with concern. His hands gripped Kumajirou tightly as he grappled with his fearful thoughts, trying to dismiss what he hoped to be unnecessary terror.

"Ok, calm down," he muttered to himself, his gaze staring into space. "I'm getting fretful over nothing. This is Alfred we're talking about. No doubt, he'll probably show in a few minutes with another broken leg…"

If that really was the case, then Canada swore that he just might give the American another broken leg for making him worry so much. And maybe a broken arm too for good measure. God, why did that brother of his have to cause so much trouble wherever he went?

Five minutes later, the woman re-entered the room. Canada broke out of his musings and stood up expectantly, waiting for the news.

"Our security cameras showed Mr. Jones leaving the building by taxi through the west wing. He was last seen departing the airport by car."

"Please prepare my private jet."

The statement must have surprised her, for she gave him a very odd glance. In all honesty, it surprised himself as well. The request had simply slipped out of his mouth, with a sort of authority and determination that his voice rarely ever contained. His lips were set in a straight line, his violet eyes hardened into amethysts, and his expression incited no room for argument.

"But sir, what for?"

"I must head to Washington D.C. right now."

For a moment, the woman looked ready to protest against his extremely abrupt request, but it died down as she saw the firm expression planted onto his face. She proceeded to stare uncertainly at him for a few seconds, eventually giving a small nod before turning her heels and exiting the room once more.

Matthew couldn't blame the woman for being so surprised. It had been quite unexpected after all.

However, no one other than a country would be able to understand Canada's reasons. For after all, Matthew Williams was not an ordinary person. He was a nation, and as a nation, deep down, he knew for a fact that Alfred was definitely _not_ in his country.

It most certainly would seem strange and rather mind bending to the average human. After all, only a select few people were truly aware of the personification of countries, such as the political leaders and governments of the world. But anyone who could understand the notion of living nations would be able to understand that right now, Canada simply could not _feel_ his brother's presence in his home.

The nation in question sank slowly down into one of the armchairs again, his eyes closed and his mind deep in thought. That's right, hours ago, he was certain he had felt Alfred's footsteps upon his home soil. But that wasn't the issue right now. The biggest problem right now was that, just as the woman had informed him of America's departure by taxi, he had felt Alfred _leave._

And that, thought Canada, was what worried him the most.

When Alfred was in his home, Matthew could always feel him. And although this sixth sense of his couldn't tell him exactly _where_ his brother was or _what_ his brother was doing, Canada could always, at the very least, tell that he was here.

Which brought him to his current issue. Right now, Alfred wasn't in Canada – that he knew for sure.

_But__ if __he__'__s __not __here, __then __where __the __maple __hockey __could __he __be?_ The blonde thought, his eyebrows furrowing together in thought. Alfred had done many strange things before, but this was definitely a first. Matthew never quite remembered an instance where his brother had ecstatically informed him that he would be coming over, only to arrive in the country and leave a few hours later without ever meeting him or even informing him as to why he had to go. True enough, it seemed just like the sort of thing that Alfred might do, but it didn't change the fact that something terrible could have happened to him, and that wasn't a chance Matthew was willing to take.

_What if something happened in his own country?_

The thought struck Canada like a bolt from the blue, an expression which in this instance meant something along the lines of "shocked the nation so much he nearly toppled off his luxurious armchair". He recovered quickly, swiftly pulling the piece of furniture forward to prevent any damage while adjusting the glasses that threatened to fall off his face. With both hands occupied, Kumajirou toppled off his lap with a surprised yelp, landing headfirst on the ground. The bear proceeded to look up resentfully at his owner, resent that quickly disappeared upon noticing the fearful expression on Matthew's face.

"Pass me the remote control quickly, Kumajirou." The nation ordered while steadying the chair on the carpet. The bear complied immediately, sensing the need to be urgent. His owner had just remembered his name, something that happened only when Matthew's memory happened to be particularly good that day or when he was being 100% serious. Kumajirou took it to be the latter and reached for the device, holding it up with both paws up when the nation was finally steadied.

Without a word, Matthew took the remote control and opened up the T.V., his heart pounding in his chest and terrible memories of the 911 attacks flashing through his mind. His eyes gazed at the screen with wild anxiety as images emerged, images that presented a horrifying sight to his terrified gaze as an earth shattering sound entered his ears…

_Whooooooo lives in a pineapple under the sea? _

_SPONGEBOB SQUA-_

Click.

Matthew covered his eyes with a groan and flipped the channel as swiftly as possible. Oh god, of all the things he needed, the last would be that ghastly cartoon and its annoying as all hell theme song. While many of the children living in his country seemed to love its titular character, he had never managed to understand why. Well, Alfred absolutely loved the show, and Matthew could only be grateful that at the least his brother never made him watch _that_. Cartoons could be weird and all, but still…

Talking sponges. And square pants. And grouchy squids that play the clarinet. Really? And why on earth was YTV the first channel that came up when he opened the television?

He momentarily considered whether or not he should consult the staff on their choice of a default channel, but decided against it. There were more important issues at hand. Quickly, he flipped to CP24, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head as he frantically awaited the latest news. If there was a crisis in America, it would definitely be all over the media.

Nothing out of the ordinary greeted him though. For a moment, he continued to stare with his shoulders tensed as the woman onscreen reported the unusually early arrival of snow this year. Then he relaxed and gave a sigh of relief before slumping back into the chair. He'd been really nervous for a second there.

True, he still didn't know where Alfred was, but now he knew that his brother wasn't in dire peril.

At least he hoped that was the case.

Matthew perked up as he heard the woman enter the room for the third time. She still appeared slightly puzzled, but most of the confusion she felt seemed to have been discarded in a professional manner. Neat and orderly once again, she straightened up and began to speak.

"Your flight is ready sir. Please follow me."

Matthew complied silently, scooping up Kumajirou as he rose from his chair. This time, instead of walking back through the door from where she came, she headed toward a passageway to the right of the entrance Matthew had arrived from initially. The nation followed without a word, too immersed in his thoughts to speak.

The woman led him down a single corridor that seemed to stretch for miles, and Matthew had to struggle to stay at a human pace. He was frantic to get going. Nonetheless, he forced himself to stay behind the lady, despite knowing the place as well as the palm of his hand. It was important that he stayed calm after all. If he became excited (like he had at the 2010 Olympics), then he would become just like America, a side of him that he'd rather not reveal at the moment.

At last, they arrived at a security check with a man sitting behind a desk. Matthew flashed his ID card and stepped through the scanner that stayed silently as he passed, confirming that he was not carrying any dangerous items on his person (except for maybe the polar bear cub).

The man had a look at his passport and, noting nothing objectionable, returned it to him and granted him access to the door. He thanked both of them before heading down yet another corridor, one that no doubt would take him to his flight.

The ride to Washington D.C. seemed like hell. Yes, the plane was equipped with snacks, drinks, technology, entertainment, several soft chairs, a bed and a polar bear pen, but despite the luxuries, Matthew couldn't quite get himself to relax. For the most part of the flight, he sat next to the window, his eyes gazing out into the setting sun and his thoughts in utter turmoil as his mind struggled to dispense the fear that haunted him so.

All the time, he continued to muse over the curious situation. There were so many questions that needed to be answered, it felt like his brain was ready to overload. Where was Alfred? Why had he left Canada so soon after touching down? How come he didn't so much as mention a single thing to Matthew before just vanishing without a word? It was behaviour from Alfred that he had never seen before, and while his brother could be unpredictable, Matthew knew him well enough that he wouldn't ever cancel movie night for any reason short of World War III.

With hardly any clues whatsoever, the only thing left for him to do was to head to the heart of America, Washington D.C.

He had tried calling his brother's cell several more times, only to receive the same robotic default voice message over and over again. Only god knew what could stop Alfred from answering his phone. That brother of his more or less never failed to answer the darned device. The only time Matthew could ever recall America not picking up the phone was when he had somehow pissed off England enough to the point of the latter removing all the bones in his arm.

An hour later, the private jet finally landed in Washington D.C., and Canada was none the wiser. Impatiently, he exited the flight, whizzed through the additional security checks (which were frustratingly tight due to his status as a nation) and was at last allowed to exit through the departure area, Kumajirou in one arm and his cell in the other.

One last time, Matthew scrolled through his contacts and picked out America's name. He prayed, as he hit the call button, that this time his brother would finally respond.

…..

Click.

Canada's heart pounded faster in excitement and relief.

"Alfred? Oh thank maple syrup heavens, you finally picked up! What took you so long-"

"_KRKRKRKRKRKRK!"_

…...

Silence.

Then,

_Your call has been interrupted, please…_

An emotionless pre-programmed voice droned out of the cell, effectively cutting off the conversation.

For several moments, Matthew could only freeze, his face stretched into an expression of sheer shock and complete horror as he numbly continued to stare at the unsympathetic screen.

Then he vehemently resisted the urge to swear and struggled not to crush the expensive device into gravel. A young couple and their children were standing a few feet away, and the last thing he needed was the U.S. government complaining to his boss that the representative of Canada had introduced some rather colourful words to the minds of two 5-7 year old children.

Whatever effort he had made previously to push back his fears had now disintegrated entirely as he re-pocketed the phone. It was official. Something was definitely wrong with his brother.

Canada closed his eyes and took a deep breath, planting his feet firmly against the ground and placed Kumajirou at his side.

Seconds later, he was rocketing through the streets of America's capital, faster than the eye could see and the mind could process. Canada usually didn't like moving at this pace unless he could help it, but as a nation, he was granted not so humanly powers, and super speed was one of them. Now seemed like one of times it came in handy. His velocity was so ludicrous that his country would surely be ashamed of him if he was caught doing this. The speed limit must have been passed by at least 1000 km.

Minutes was all it took for him to arrive in front of Alfred's house, or mansion rather, hands on his knees and panting like an exhausted dog. Kumajirou lay sprawled across the pavement in a similar state, having been forced to run in order to keep up with his master. Across the street, an elderly woman stared at him with her mouth wide open before rubbing her eyes and muttering "Goodness, my age is really catching up to me," before limping off, walking stick in hand.

When he was able to stand properly without seeing little hockey wielding birds fluttering around his head, Matthew took a deep breath and opened the gate.

Ignoring the fancy bushes and elaborate lawn decorations around him, carefully maintained by workers, Canada strolled around the massive fountain and up the polished stone stairs. Pinned above it was the flag of the United States of America, complete with the words "LAND OF THE FREE" in gold letters.

Standing in front of the magnificent wooden door, Canada raised his fist and was just about to rap his knuckles against the oak when something caught his eye.

Atop the welcome mat was a white envelope with no postage stamps whatsoever. It lay innocently between his feet, as if prompting him to pick it up and open it.

Compelled to momentarily forget about his task at hand, Matthew bent down and lifted up the envelope with two fingers. It was simple in design, no stamps or logos, just the words "To the United States of America" scrawled neatly across the back.

Matthew narrowed his eyes and glanced over to the left where the mailbox was. Why had the postman left a letter here on the welcome mat rather than place it in its rightful place, where any partially functional human being would've understand to put it?

Yet it didn't seem like a professional document or something that that would be sent to America. More or less all of Alfred's letters had some fancy seal or another placed upon it just to signify its importance. This envelope had nothing. Just some scribbled words, not even an address. It had to have been hand delivered.

But by who? No one that knew of Alfred's status as a nation would deliver a letter in person. Coupled with the clue of the envelope's curious location, along with the mysterious response to his last phone call, Matthew felt a suddenly dread as another possibility occurred to him. Removing his gloves and mentally scolding himself for looking through mail addressed to Alfred, he neatly ripped away the top and removed the letter inside.

The message was short. But nonetheless one that made his blood run cold.

_We have your brother. Go to the next world meeting._

Horror.

Fear.

Even anger.

Any one of those emotions could have hit him at that moment like a raging bull. He was honestly too shocked to even know. All he could register was _some_ emotion beginning to burn inside of him, pounding against his sides like crashing waves…

_Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…_

As he continued to gape blankly at the slip of paper in dumb shock, he vaguely registered a vibrating sensation in one of his many coat pockets. Numbly and automatically, as if he simply an operating robot, he pulled out his phone and flipped it open.

"_MATHEIU! Are you there? Are you alright? Mon Dieu, please, answer your papa! Oh, heaven forbid my darling ex-colony has been captured and held captive in some dark unbeautiful place where evil are about to do the most dreadful things-_

"France?"

A loud exhale of relief was heard from the other side and Canada, despite his current predicament, felt a little touched that his former caretaker had remembered him for once and was actually concerned for his well being.

"Oh, thank heavens! At least mon petit Canada is not in danger! At least you have not been taken as well! I must admit, I was quite worried when I found that strange envelope outside ma maison, but never mind that! Thank the lord that you are safe!"

A part of France's joyful speech struck him as a little odd, and Canada furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Wait, Francis, what do you mean by 'as well'? What happened?"

A long, sorrowful sigh was heard from the other side. Then after a short pause, France began to speak in a low, serious voice that Canada rarely ever heard him use, delivering a message that plunged his heart in dread.

_"Listen carefully, Mathieu. We have unofficially entered a state of international emergency. Several countries have vanished mysteriously with no apparent cause whatsoever. Come to Angleterre, we are holding a world meeting to discuss the crisis at once."_

_**End Chapter 1**_

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><p><strong>So yeah, my first fanfiction. I think that you can tell from the lack of writing experience in my work above.<strong>

**Some things I want to point out:**

**I got the idea of Canada running at super sonic speed from the one Hetalia episode when he's late for a meeting and just whooshes past one of the employees. I thought it made sense that as a nation, he should be able to travel at superhuman speeds. If any of you want to know why he didn't just run to Washington D.C., I thought that it might be breaking the law for him to just walk over into another country.**

**I'm ashamed to admit that although I'm Canadian, I really suck at French, therefore I didn't dare to add much more French dialogue when France was speaking to Canada. So if I somehow managed to mess up the minute amount of the language that I did add, please point it out.**

**I also haven't decided if I want to make Canada the older or younger brother, or if just to make him and America twins. If any one who reads this story has any particular preference, feel free to point it out before I post the next chapter. **

**I'm also not sure where the Spongebob Squarepants reference came from. It kinda just struck me as an idea, although I must admit that I rather dislike the show. I apologize if I insulted any fans, but to me, it just seemed like something America would like and Canada would hate.**

**Finally, I don't own Spongebob, _A__ Study __in__ Scarlet_, or any other elements in this story that are copyrighted.**

**Sorry for long Author's note. Reviews aren't necessary, but would be appreciated. I request you don't flame, but I can't stop you from doing so, therefore you can write whatever you want and I'll read it anyways.**

**Sherlockdetective99, signing out.**


	2. World Meeting

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or any of its characters.  
><strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>Bonds<strong>

**Chapter 2**

London had never looked gloomier.

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but as Matthew made his way through the streets of England's capital, he couldn't help but feel as if the whole city was about to burst into tears of misery. London perhaps wasn't the most cheerful looking place in the whole world, but was it possible to look any more depressing?

Heavy rain bombarded his umbrella like gunfire as he struggled to slip through the busy streets with Kumajirou in hand. The downpour was so thick he could barely see a few metres in front of his face. Water sloshed beneath his boots, and he thanked the heavens that his footwear was built to withstand precipitation of all sorts. The capital of the UK was never known for having great weather, but this was just ridiculous.

To make matters worse, his invisibility made crossing streets particularly dangerous, as drivers were sometimes unable to see him. It wasn't really so much that it would injure him. Being the embodiment of a nation, the vehicle would probably just send him flying, but it would certainly raise a few eyebrows if he simply stood up with no injuries after absorbing the full impact of several hundred pounds of speeding metal.

Once again, he stopped to open up the map of London he'd picked up in the airport, struggling not to drop Kumajirou or his umbrella. He didn't even have luggage with him, having arrived straight from Washington D.C. His pilot had given him quite a strange look after he worded his request to be flown to London at once. Although the man had complied without a complaint, Matthew overheard the man muttering "countries" under his breath as he entered the cockpit.

He squinted through his glasses in an attempt to read the signs, blurred by the onslaught of pouring rain. Another glance down at the map was enough to confirm his location, and he once again took off through the street, hunched up beneath his red and white umbrella as he tried not to bump into anyone in midst of the terrible weather.

As he walked through the rain, Matthew found his thoughts wandering from the subject of directions and back to the topic of his missing brother. Slits of amethyst-coloured eyes hardened as he reached into his coat pocket, feeling the rough texture of the envelope that he'd found outside Alfred's house. An icy chill seemed to grip him as he stopped walking and took it out, glaring down at the message in fear and frustration.

To think that this would happen! America! Of all the countries, America was one of the kidnapped! The United States, one of the greatest world powers, _his_ unstoppable brother… just gone. Vanished without a trace.

What sort of twisted reality was he living in right now? In what sort of parallel universe would America go down without at a least a whole city being demolished in the process?

The whole situation seemed so unreal and ridiculous, he had half a mind to imagine that he was in some sort of twisted nightmare and would wake up any second now.

His boots utterly soaked by the miserable downpour, a spark akin to guilt flashed in his eyes as he tried to focus on the flashing traffic lights. Something was weighing heavily on his mind right now, made no better by the dreadful weather.

Walking by himself in the busy, rain clogged traffic, Matthew was forced to focus on a sinking suspicion that had haunted him all along, one he'd dreaded to even consider. But it was a truth that made complete sense, no matter how he looked at it, a truth that chilled his bones and froze his blood.

America had been mistaken for him.

Many times he'd scolded himself for thinking in such a way, not wanting to burden himself further with the guilt that he was responsible for Alfred's plight. His brother was the most noticeable man in the world. And him? Not so much. Was it possible to mistake a rock for empty air?

The suspicion had badgered him constantly ever since he'd opened that damned letter. Canada had lived for many years after all, and he was most certainly not stupid. Of course such a theory would have sprung in to place at the presentation of such evidence, but he had largely pushed it aside, ignoring it in favour of what he deemed more important matters. He'd managed to convince himself at the time that he was being unrealistic, that his reasoning was flawed.

But the more he thought about it, the more sensible it all became. They had always looked so much alike, they were twins after all. Identification mess-ups were quite common, although it was always Matthew who was mistaken for Alfred, never the other way around.

Not to mention, Alfred had also been in Canada when he'd disappeared. If someone had really been seeking to target Matthew, it would only make sense that they would come to the nation he represented, and in their attempt to kidnap the representative, they could easily have made a common identification error and got his brother instead.

To cap it all off, the envelope he'd found outside the mansion had been addressed to "The United States of America" and the message had claimed _his _capture. Unless the letter had been some sort of a sick joke, it more or less cemented the fact that he, Canada, had been the original target, and if that wasn't sufficient evidence, he wasn't sure what was.

Lost in thought with his head sunk deeply into his collar, the nation very nearly walked past a particular tall grey building with a rather grand entrance, complete with a Union Jack waving proudly above his head. Stopping mid-step, he looked up with narrowed eyes and cast one last glance at his map to make sure that he was in the right place. After confirming that this was indeed where he was supposed to be, he pocketed the piece of parchment and headed toward the front doors.

He had arrived at the world meeting.

Walking up the stairs to the meeting room, Canada turned to the left and headed toward the heavy wooden doors at the end of the corridor. Taking a deep breath, he stood still and listened for the incredible hubbub that the countries were surely kicking up. But to his surprise, the hallway that should have been reverberating with the sound of arguing voices was silent, so silent he could hear the sound of Kumajirou's sniffling in his arms. With a frown, the nation wondered if he'd arrived particularly early as he approached the room and opened the doors.

He swore his jaw clattered against the ground and skittered across the floor at the sight that greeted him.

The room was in complete silence.

Canada could only stare at the other nations gathered, sitting next to each other in an orderly and civilized fashion, considering the fact that world meetings never amounted to _anything_ short of utter chaos. The very notion that all the countries could spend five seconds together in the same room without uttering a word to each other just seemed completely out of this world and into the next universe.

The very first thing that tipped him off was that France and England weren't fighting. Pretty much rule #1 of a world meeting was that the two nations were ready to stab each other to death with their own shinbones. But today they were sitting next to each other without uttering a single word, and although the aura of hostility remained as always, no signs of physical aggression seemed to have taken place.

Second of all, Prussia wasn't annoying the hell out of Germany. Instead, the older ex-nation looked rather concerned for his younger brother, whom Canada noticed (with quite some surprise) was sporting several injuries. Not that it appeared to offset the fierce aura that the man always seemed to be radiating. On the contrary, it only seemed to be stronger than ever.

North Italy wasn't bouncing around the blonde haired country either. As a matter of fact, after a quick look around, Canada noticed that the cheerful pasta-lover was no where in sight. There was only his older brother Romano, looking fit to kill as he glared in front of him, silently burning in fury. Spain sat beside him nervously, eyes filled with something akin to sorrow as he for once ceased to smile and cheerfully harass the boy that he'd raised.

To the left, China could be seen staring dangerously into the wooden table, his face unreadable as his fists lay clenched upon the wood. Beside him sat Hong Kong, who maintained his usual stoic expression, as well as South Korea, looking uncharacteristically serious as he fiddled with his fingers.

Russia looked as terrifying as ever, perhaps even more so than usual. The purple aura lingering around him seemed ready to disintegrate all that was caught in its wrath. The murderous glint in his eyes appeared to stab right into anything unlucky enough to be caught in front of it, and Canada didn't dare look at him for any longer than half a second.

He decided not to observe any longer as he slipped soundlessly into the room.

The atmosphere was incredible, and it almost seemed to be physically pressing the nation into the ground as he attempted to discreetly make his way to his usual seat. But as he approached his seat, a sharp voice snapped at him, breaking the silence and shocking him so much he nearly leapt into the air in fright.

"Well you sure took your bloody time, America! Have you not learned that your brother has disappeared? I called you fifteen times and never once did you pick up-"

"Angleterre!" France interrupted sharply, noticing that Canada looked ready to faint at the sound of the Englishman's fierce reprimand. "That is not America, you imbecile. That is mon petit Canada. Goodness, can you still not tell the difference?"

All the nations in the room seemed to momentarily pause their efforts to glare the table into ashes as they swerved their heads toward him in confusion.

"Who?" They asked in complete unison.

Matthew sighed in defeat. This was getting really old.

"I'm Canada." He whispered, making his way to his seat. Both fuzzy eyebrows raised as England stared in confusion.

"What? Is that really you Canada? Then what is this letter I received on my doorstep claiming that the representative of Canada has been kidnapped?"

France shrugged his shoulders, muttering "I suppose the attempt failed somehow."

Canada perked up, realizing that they too needed to know of America's disappearance, and opened his mouth to speak.

"Wait, actually, America-"

BANG.

Simultaneously, all the heads in the room swerved towards the entrance, effectively cutting off Canada's attempt to address the rest of the nations. A chill went down many of their spines at the sight of Switzerland booting the door open, eyes blazing with fire and pistols in both hands, looking ready to pop everyone full of holes with a mad flurry of bullets. For a moment, it appeared as if he were about to open fire right there and then, but the fuming country merely gave everyone in the room a furious glare and stormed over to his spot at the table.

A few seconds later, Austria and Hungary walked tentatively through the now ruined doors, the former looking slightly disdainfully at the dented slabs of wood to either side of the entrance. Australia and New Zealand followed, casting nervous glances to each other as they took their seats as well.

Canada squirmed uncomfortably in his seat as he silently watched the rest of the countries trickle in one by one. He had half a mind to inform the rest of the world about America's disappearance, but every time he attempted to speak up, the terrifying atmosphere of the room would immediately cause him to snap his mouth shut. From his seat in between England and where America should have been, he had a pretty decent vantage point of the entire table, and the intimidation factor of nearly every country in the room was enough make his breathing difficult.

Looking around nervously, Canada scanned the remaining seats while making sure to avoid eye contact with any of the obviously fuming nations. Some countries looked relatively calm, such as India, but others like Switzerland or Russia appeared capable of murdering with their glares alone. A quick sweep of the table revealed a surprising number of empty seats and Canada narrowed his eyes, mentally noting the current absences.

_Japan seems to be missing… strange, isn't he usually quite punctual? Latvia isn't here either, as well as Taiwan, Finland, Iceland…_

To his surprise, far more seats remained empty than he expected. Remembering France's remark on the mysterious disappearance of several countries, Canada couldn't help but feel a haunting chill settle over him, ten times worse than the cold of General Winter.

_There are far more missing than I expected… what on earth could have happened? How could so many of them be gone? Or are they just late?_

For half an hour, the tension in the room continued to build, mounting higher and higher the longer the countries refused to speak. Finally, twenty minutes after the last country Greece came in with several cats attached to his head, it was made painfully apparent that no more would be arriving, and that was when Germany made his move.

With his usual air of authority, the blonde haired nation stood up and slapped both palms on the table, sweeping the room with his customary glare as he addressed the rest of the world.

"I am sure that all of you have been briefed on our current situation one way or another. Since America still has not made his appearance, I shall take charge of this meeting instead. Are there any objections?"

Any other time, there would have been catcalls of protest from all around the table, but just this once, the room remained silent, responding to his question with silent acceptance.

Noting that no one challenged his position of authority, Germany stood up straight and cleared his throat, formidable despite all injuries on his person.

"As I have said before, I do not feel it is necessary to explain the events that have befallen. But since there are some who probably have no clue whatsoever as to why they are here, I will give you all a quick summary of the situation at hand-"

But before Germany could begin, Prussia beat him to it.

"That's right! Some idiot got into our house and nearly took out West by spiking his beer! Thankfully, the awesome me got there just in time, and whoever the hell he was took off like a wimp because he knew he was no match for-"

Before he could continue his "awesome" speech any further and likely receive a bullet to the head through courtesy of Switzerland, Germany slammed his older brother back into his seat. Hungary helpfully knocked him unconscious with a frying pan that none of the countries had seen her hold earlier.

Looking slightly embarrassed for both his brother's behaviour and having been caught off guard by a mysterious assailant, Germany gave a slight cough to cover up the incident before recovering his position of authority.

"My apologies for my brother's behaviour. He will compose himself in the future."

Here he sent a glare to said brother, who was still knocked out from Hungary's blow.

"As I was saying, the situation may or not be very serious. Based on the information some of us have put together, it seems that several countries have disappeared in the time period of the last ninety six hours. As Prussia has mentioned earlier, this may have something to do with the mysterious intruder in my house. Whether or not the missing nations have suffered foul play or have cut off contact with others of their own accord is still not clear. South Italy has also informed me that he has received a letter on his doorstep claiming that his brother has been captured, and it has yet to be proven whether it is official or merely a joke. Has anyone else experienced something similar?"

Many nations around the room called out their confirmation and removed envelopes from various pockets in their clothing. Canada was one of them.

Germany exhaled slowly and paused, drawing a few surprised looks from the other countries. Very few times had they seen him hesitate, especially when he was assuming a position of leadership.

The hesitation lasted only for a second though, and once again, the man drew himself to his full height, staring down the whole world with his piercing blue eyes.

"Based on this new information, I am drawn to believe that foul play was indeed involved. However, it would be impulsive to make assumptions. First, it would wise to make a full list of the missing. Place your envelopes on the table in front of you so that we know who has been sent a letter. We will start from my left and go clockwise."

Canada sighed. He was sitting three seats right from Germany. This could take a while.

Norway was the first to report.

"Iceland." He muttered simply, his arms crossed and his head turned away.

"M' W'f." Sweden growled, to the confusion of the countries that heard him.

"He means Finland." Denmark provided, attempting to look cheerful and failing miserably.

"Lithuania." The other nations silently noted the lack of the nickname Poland had given to his friend.

"Ukraine and Belarus." Those sitting near him edged away nervously as Russia's killing aura spiked upwards tenfold.

"L-Latvia…" Estonia stuttered, intimidated by the murderous presence sitting beside him. "I also got one for Lithuania."

"Veneziano." Romano hissed quietly. Spain looked somewhat torn, as if deciding between trying to comfort his former charge or leaving him alone. In the end, the older nation settled for a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Liechtenstein." Switzerland snapped through gritted teeth. Canada, along with several other countries, leaned away slightly at how ferocious his voice sounded, like the snarl of a wolf just before it pounced, teeth bared and claws outstretched. No wonder the man was in such a fierce mood.

"Belgium." Netherlands stated shortly, leaning back into his chair with shoulders tensed.

"Japan and Taiwan." China growled, his fists clenched on the table before him. Beside him, South Korea and Hong Kong wore similar expressions at the mention of their missing siblings. Much of the world stared in slight shock, obviously surprised that Japan would be one of the missing. None of them voiced their incredulity though.

"Seychelles." France murmured gravely, his eyes glinting with an unnatural seriousness as he rested his chin atop his fingers. Canada's head whipped up in shock, horrified by this new turn of events. Seychelles was like a sister to him, and although he wasn't blood-related to her like he was to America, losing two siblings in one day was still a shattering blow.

Looking up though, he suddenly realized that since England had nothing to say, it was his turn to report. Swallowing nervously, and feeling the gazes of every nation turning toward him, he prepared to speak.

"Is that all?"

Germany's voice came cutting through his thoughts, and for a moment, it confused him as he looked up in bewilderment. Then, to his shock and frustration, he realized that the other countries could not see him once more, their eyes passing over him as if he were empty air. Not about to let his chance slip by again, he tried to speak up again.

"Wait, I still have to-"

"Very well then. As Austria has listed, the missing countries are-"

"Hold on, where's America? How come he's still not here?"

Heads swerved to look at Spain, who had finally brought up the question that had no doubt been lingering in the minds of many. Canada sighed in relief and once again tried to make himself heard.

"Actually, America is-"

England's scoff cut him off as the spiky haired nation rolled his eyes upward.

"Likely sitting at home stuffing himself sick with those bloody hamburgers of his. Just like him not to turn up at a meeting as crucial as this one, that damned git." The Englishman muttered amid nods of agreement and exasperation.

"No, wait, America isn't-" Canada attempted again, frantically trying to gain the attention of the other nations, who were one by one displaying expressions of disapproval.

"Typical bastard." Cuba spat, crossing his arms in irritation.

"You guys, listen-"

"Kolkolkolkolkolkol..." Russia began to mumble under his breath, causing those within a ten metre radius to start backing away, if they hadn't done so already earlier.

"I'm serious, America, he's-"

"Of all the times aru..." China growled, lifting a hand to his wok.

"Please, listen to me-"

"We have no choice but to proceed without him." Germany stated gruffly, standing up again. "Right now, we should move to the subject of what to do-"

"HOLD IT!"

Canada screamed as he shot out of his seat, finally snapping from the frustration of having no voice as he desperately hoped that it would be enough to break through his wall of invisibility. To his relief, all heads turned toward him in alarm, and although many eyes held confusion (obviously as to whom he was), at least he _finally_ had their attention.

"Canada?" France and England inquired simultaneously, both rising from their seats in astonishment. The younger nation didn't give them a chance to say anymore as he immediately started speaking before he went invisible again.

"AMERICA IS ALSO MISSING!"

The room plunged into dead silence.

Canada took a deep breath and forced himself to relax, his hands trembling as he raised his head to look at the world that now finally acknowledged him with wide eyes and agape mouths. Inhaling deeply once more, the young nation composed himself and spoke once again.

"America is one of the missing." Canada repeated, his voice far calmer this time as he forced himself not to break eye contact with the rest of the countries. He sat down with wobbling legs, struggling to maintain his composure to make up for his previous unexpected outburst, and waited for the reactions of his fellow nations.

Prussia unfortunately chose this moment to regain consciousness, and as his scarlet eyes opened groggily and took in the state of the room (that is to say, completely silent), he apparently decided that it was his cue to start an "awesome" speech as he stood up with a laugh.

"Hey! What's wrong with the world! Surely you couldn't have been waiting for the awesome me to wake after Hungary's not so awesome-"

"Brother." Germany whispered. "Be quiet."

The simultaneous glares of every other country in the meeting room did better to shut him up, and the ex-nation, for once choosing to read the atmosphere, decided it was best to sit down quietly.

The sudden interruption had jolted the world out of its shock though, and England was the first to respond to Canada's startling report.

"Matthew, what are you talking about?" The former empire inquired, obviously not quite believing his extraordinary outburst. "Surely America's just being a git like he always is. I'm certain he'll turn up eventually-"

"No." Canada stated firmly, his fears disintegrating as he stood up and cleared his throat to once again address the rest of the world. For the first time in history, they listened.

"America called me over the phone yesterday in the morning." He announced, his voice no longer a whisper, strong and clear as it reverberated across the room. As the rest of the countries watched him, many of them realized for the first time the stunning resemblance he bore to their self-proclaimed leader, and those who already knew couldn't help but feel that the usually soft-spoken nation at this moment had become shockingly similar to the brother that they all mistook him for, until the difference became so subtle that they truly could hardly tell who they were looking at anymore.

"He told me that he would be meeting me in less than an hour. However, he never came. The airport cameras caught him leaving the building, but I did not see him after that. In the evening, I felt his presence leave my country, and so I travelled to his capital, Washington D.C. if I could find him. It was outside his house that I found this-"

Canada paused and pushed forward the envelope that lay on the table in front of him before continuing his speech.

"-on top of his welcome mat. That is all I know."

For a moment, there was only startled silence following his shocking report. Then France and England both simultaneously came to the same revelation as they once again stood up in alarm.

"Wait, then the letter-"

"Mon cher, do you mean-"

"Yes." Canada cut them both off, staring guiltily into his hands. "I'm afraid the letters you've received have more or less proved that I was the intended target. America was mistaken for me, and likely kidnapped in my place."

And with that, Canada promptly sat back down, his courage instantly evaporating as he finished his stunning speech.

No one seemed to be able to find their voices within the ten seconds following Canada's last words. They couldn't find any flaw in his theory.

Then Germany took the stage once more, clearing his throat to gain the attention of the world.

"Very well then. We will add America to the list of the missing."

If possible, the atmosphere in the room was even worse than it was before. No doubt, all of the countries were shell-shocked that America, the United States of America, could have been a victim of foul play, of abduction. Perhaps not all of them liked him, perhaps they thought he was a pain in the ass, but none of them, not one, in any shape or form, dared to underestimate his incredible strength, and that only made the possibility even more frightening. If even the United States, most powerful country in the _world_, had fallen to the culprit(s), then who could be capable of stopping them?

Germany was obviously trying to maintain a cool expression, but even he seemed disturbed as he continued to lead the meeting.

"Well, now that we have a complete list of a missing, I shall read them out, and if there is anyone we have missed, please speak up immediately."

The blonde haired nation proceeded to recite the names of the disappeared. No one brought up any objections after he was done.

As he was speaking though, Canada had been looking mostly at his hands, which hadn't stopped shaking the moment he began his outburst. But now, as he looked to his right, he noticed how England was shaking in his seat, his face hidden as he trembled in barely suppressed fury. The younger nation twisted his hands together in sympathy as he watched the former empire that once raised him seethe in silence, fighting to keep his composure in the presence of his fellow countries. It had to hurt knowing that the one he'd taken care of as a child could be suffering somewhere right now, location unknown to anyone aside from his possible captors. As America's brother, it was something that he understood all too well.

"Seeing that we have an accurate list of the countries currently missing, I would like to move onto the next priority. What exactly has happened to them."

Germany paused and scoured the room. "Are there any suggestions?"

"They've obviously been captured, you potato bastard. I can feel it from Veneziano." Romano snarled, eyes flaming like a demon as he banged his fist on the table.

"I understand that South Italy, and that is a reality I believe we may be forced to accept for now. The main issue is, who is responsible?"

Silence plagued the room once more, only to be broken by China three seconds later.

"It's obvious, isn't it aru? It's one of us. Only a nation would be capable of kidnapping another nation aru."

A chill gripped the others in the room as they processed the four thousand year old country's bitter words. Of course, all of them had suspected it in the corner of their minds. But to hear the suspicions voiced aloud made it seem all the more real, and all the more terrifying.

"Then who is it?" Stuttered South Korea, his eyes darting around wildly, as if already considering everyone else a suspect. No one else could answer him, and the obvious unease in the room felt as if ants were crawling down their backs.

Germany, as if sensing that the world could potentially explode into pandemonium if someone did not seize control, slammed his palms into the table, instantly catching the attention of the agitated countries.

"Listen, I know what you are all thinking, and I admit that I feel it too. One of us, no, several of us are responsible for this crisis, and the rest of us do not know who. Considering the amount of countries disappeared and the period of time that they disappeared in, I am forced to assume that more than one player was involved. However, that does not mean that we can look at every other nation as a suspect. If the enemy is united, then we cannot defeat them individually."

Several nations glared at him, but none of them argued. None of them could find a reason to argue.

"Then, if there are no objections, our next course of action will be-"

Suddenly, the dented meeting room doors burst open and a young employee burst through, causing several countries to rise to their feet. Her hair was frazzled and her glasses hung off of one ear. Eyes glowing frantically, she made no attempt to introduce herself as she flailed one arm so wildly it was a wonder it didn't dislocate from her shoulder.

"Mr. England! It's urgent! We have a caller who demands to speak with you all, sir! He claims the capture of several country representatives!"

_**End Chapter 2  
><strong>_

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><p><strong>Hey there, Sherlockdetective99 speaking. Sorry, I was hoping to have an update every two weeks, but I went over my deadline by two days. My sincere apologies.<strong>

**So yeah, the plot thickens. The world is now holding a meeting and the culprit is about to reveal his face. Or at least his voice. And yes, the culprit is a male. One of them, that is. *mysterious grin***

**As far as OCs go, I don't feel too comfortable writing about the characters that the original author hasn't gone in much depth about. Someone like Hong Kong I can cope with, but a character like, say, Mexico, I wouldn't take my risks with, considering that I have absolutely no clue what he/she would look like or act. Australia might become an OC though, because I was born there and my brother spent his childhood years in Sydney, so I do have some idea of how the character might talk or act.**

**I also picked some of the missing countries by rolling a dice, because I wasn't too sure of who to have kidnapped and all. I was kinda surprised when Japan was one of them, but I decided just to go with the flow.  
><strong>

**I also couldn't help but have Canada snap. I didn't want him to go over the top insane or anything like that, but I think it's about time the poor guy got some attention. Patriotic I am, I'll admit it. Why do you think this story's Canada oriented? XD**

**Relax if you love the US though, I think he'll play a pretty major role in the future. Truth be told, I only have a vague idea of how the story will end, it's kind of coming to me as I go along.  
><strong>

**That's all I have to say for now. Happy New Year to all.**

**Sherlockdetective99, signing out.**


	3. Crisis

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or any of its characters._**

**_WARNING: There will be swearing in this chapter. I actually flinched every time I had to write the f-word. Yeah, I know, I'm a wuss, but whatever.  
><em>**

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><p>The silence was shattered instantly as all hell broke loose in the meeting room.<p>

"SHUT THE HELL UP YOU BLOODY LOT!" England hollered above the exclamations of shock as several nations rose to their feet. "Bring the phone! Put it on speaker!"

At once, the telephone was brought to the room and placed in the centre of the table. All the nations gazed forward in anticipation, shoulders tense, eyes narrowed, intent to find a reason to their current global crisis.

With bated breath and tongues held, it seemed like hours before a voice sounded from the other side.

_"Hello, countries of the world."_

A sudden chill travelled down Canada's spine. It felt as if the temperature of the room had suddenly decided to drop several degrees. Shivering involuntarily, his gaze quickly turned from anticipation to wariness, and he knew he wasn't the only one who felt the sudden sense of danger.

Most of them being at least several centuries old, more or less all countries were capable of judging an individual based on first appearances or voices alone. Hundreds of years of war and interrogation experience saw to that.

The feeling was mutual around the entire conference table. This caller knew exactly what he was doing. In short, he was likely to be very dangerous.

"Who the bloody hell are you? Either state your business or hang up this instant." England growled, his bushy eyebrows furrowed so closely together that for a moment, Canada mistook them for a very large, very long, and very furry caterpillar.

France, for once, did not object to the first thing his nemesis said, eyes narrowed in thought as he rubbed his chin.

_"Rest assured,"_ the voice on the other end purred, and all the countries could hear Australia crack his knuckles in irritation._ "I will give you information on your beloved brothers and sisters. But first, I wish to voice my demands."_

The level of hostility in the room, formidable as it already was, spiked upward instantly as several nations leapt to their feet.

"What the fuck did you just say, you shit-eating bastard? Demands? You're holding fucking _countries_ as hostages?" Romano cursed violently, rising so fast he knocked his chair clean over. Spain looked like he was having the workout of his life as he fought to prevent the infuriated country from leaping onto the table and smashing the phone into a nice little heap of shattered plastic and wires.

"You kiddin' us mate? Are you seriously holding our mates as a ransom? Are you clean off your bloody rocker?" Australia had risen from his chair, his eyes unusually hostile as he roared his disbelief.

"They are right," France provided, his gaze calm, but nonetheless agitated. "You have no support to your claim, and until you've made it clear that your threat is true, do not bother us with such nonsensical talk."

"What are you up to aru? Did you really kidnap Japan and Taiwan? What proof do you have aru?" China demanded, his expression of calm and ancient wisdom no more as he slammed his fist against the table, causing their cups to rattle in their saucers (originally provided by England) and a six foot gash to appear along the middle of the wood.

Catcalls of agreement echoed from around the table at China's outburst.

Ludwig, ever authoritative, banged his fist on the table for the tenth time that day... or was it the twelfth? Honestly, he couldn't even remember any more, and his hand was throbbing rather viciously right now. Holding back the small growl of pain, he reminded himself that he had to remain perfectly professional, even if his colleagues were once again acting like a group of five year old children...

It took a few seconds for the room to quiet down fully, but eventually, silence settled over once again (though the level of animosity hadn't dropped in the slightest).

Austria cleared his throat, nudged his glasses with his little finger, stood up, fixed his clothes, and finally began to speak.

"Do pardon our atrocious behaviour, I'm afraid that my fellow representatives behave rather rashly under stressful circumstances, not to say that they present themselves in a civilized manner at any given time, and I sincerely apologize-"

"JUST GET ON WITH IT!" Half the world screamed, some with half-crazed glints in their eyes, and Austria wisely decided not to prolong his formal and civilized speech any further.

"However, _we would really appreciate it if you hurry up and tell us what's going on_." Understandably intimidated by the hysterical glares of some countries in particular (such as Russia) and particularly wary of the gun-wielding Switzerland sitting a few seats away, Austria finished speaking as fast as he could and sat back down immediately, his hands trembling slightly as Hungary placed a hand on his arm and returned death glares to all those who continued to stare.

Canada gazed at the man in sympathy. It must be pretty intimidating to have half the whole world yelling at you.

A low chuckle rumbled from the other end as the countries bickered, and all incensed glares returned to the device sitting innocently in the centre of the table.

_"And I thought the complete lack of mutual agreement was merely a rumour. It seems that I've received the honour of being a firsthand witness this time round."_

There seemed to be a slight hint of bitterness mixed among the dry sarcasm, and Canada furrowed his eyebrows in thought, his mind tucking away the subtle bit of information for a later time.

"Listen up," hissed England, his eyes dark and his gaze threatening. "In case you haven't noticed, we are all quite busy right now and have no time for pointless games. Either show us that you mean business or I'll end the bloody call right now."

A disappointed sigh was heard, but something about it made Canada prick up in interest. Was that scorn he heard in that quiet exhale?

_"Uncooperative as ever, although I can't say I expected anything more. Very well, let us see if this is the proof you so desire."_

The caller took a deep breath and hollered a command to someone Canada assumed to be another mysterious individual. So it seemed that their enemy really wasn't alone in this plot. The atmosphere in the room grew tenser by the moment as the unmistakable screech of a chair was heard being pushed into the room. Impatience was beginning to show on the faces of many as they leaned forwards in their seats; even Germany's eyes had narrowed in anticipation. The tension was so thick one could probably cut it with a knife.

Then the screeching stopped abruptly and the sound of exhausted panting could be heard. Canada's knuckles were turning white as his heart rate increased exponentially, his mind struggling to place the familiarity of the tired exhales from the opposite end of the phone. He could swear that he'd heard them somewhere before, but the name seemed to be avoiding his attempts to remember the exact owner of the voice…

And in their haste to recognise the captive on the other end, no one noticed as a single nation went rigid, the near silent gasp muted by the thick fog of tension that continued to hang heavily in the conference room.

_"Well hello there, little one."_ The mysterious voice sneered, his tone exultant. _"Why don't you say hello to the world? I'm sure there all quite worried for you."_

A determined silence followed, and a sniff of contempt was heard.

_"Tsk, how ungrateful. Here I am, graciously allowing you to speak with your friends, yet you reject my act of kindness."_

There was a long sigh, mock disappointment evident at its finest, and when the man spoke again, all false sympathy had faded away, as swift and soundless as the morning mist.

_"I really hoped that I wouldn't have to do this… but it seems that I have no alternative."_

The silence of the room was broken abruptly as two things happened at once. A resounding "CRACK" was heard, followed almost instantaneously by a piercing cry of pain. At the same moment, numerous countries leapt to their feet in both horror and shock, Canada included, as they finally were able to place the voice of the victim. Not a nation was left emotionless, even Sweden, and several of them involuntarily cried out alarm. But no one was able to match the strangled yell from a single blonde European country, the one who'd been sitting stone still for the past few minutes, index finger twitching gingerly over a cold metal trigger, praying through gritted teeth that the voice he was hearing didn't belong to the one lost to him just a day ago…

"Liechtenstein!"

In one fluid motion, the ever-neutral nation of Switzerland had erupted out of his chair in an explosion of shock and fury, instinctively raising the pistol he held in his right hand. With blazing eyes, he looked like he was having coronary, and had it not been for the swift reactions of Austria and Germany, the furious country would most certainly have blasted the phone to shrapnel.

"You bastard!" He raged, with all the appearance of a man who'd completely lost his mind, and he barely seemed to notice the other two nations struggling to hold him back. "You damned fucking son of a bitch! Get your _fucking hands off of her_!"

Austria had, thank god, managed to remove the pistol from his hand and Germany had him by the arms in an effort to keep him settled, but even their combined might seemed to be incapable of holding him back.

And how was this surprising? This was a man who'd just learned that his little sister was being held captive at the hands of some sinister villain, her life completely at his mercy. If that wasn't enough to make someone go bat shit insane, then Canada wasn't sure what could.

Just as it seemed that Germany had the situation under control, another scream pealed through the air, this time accompanied with a cry of "Big Bruder!" Unsurprisingly, this proved only to pour gasoline on what could be compared to a blazing forest fire, and with a vicious jerk, Austria was sent flying and Germany left barely clinging on.

When it was made clear that even the starter of both world wars could not contain the fury-crazed nation of Switzerland, others began to help. It was only when the incensed blonde man was pinned under what could be classified as a dog pile consisting of Germany, England, Australia, Spain, Denmark and France that he finally stopped moving, although he continued to rave curses and profanity in the direction of the phone.

"I swear I'll blow your fucking brains out! I'll fucking rip out your bones and shove them through your eye sockets!"

"Calm down Switzerland!"

"Stop this unsightly behaviour. Your reaction is exactly the one he wants to see."

"Get your butt outta my face!"

"I can't move! Deal with it!"

"France! In the name of the queen, that better not be you groping me!"

"You wound me Angleterre! I surely would never implement such behaviour in this sort of situation!"

"…Somehow I have doubts about the validity of that statement."

"Who's elbow's sticking into my vital regions?"

"Sorry, I think it's mine. I can't move though, someone's leg is on top of it and Australia's sitting on my head."

"Hey! Not my fault! The bloke's completely lost it! If I move, I swear he'll send us all flying!"

Canada shared a nervous glance with the other nations, who were still, thankfully, able to see him. If there was anything that the entire world agreed on, it was to never piss Switzerland off, especially through means of his sister. The sight they had just seen only cemented the fact, and Canada knew if they ever caught the culprit, there'd be hell to pay.

"All of you shut up already – URGH!"

Germany's attempt at silencing the jumbled mix of arguments failed spectacularly as Switzerland was somehow able shove his arm upwards, ramming his elbow straight between his eyes. The European nation was left scrunching his face in pain as war raged both above and below him, a bruise beginning to spread itself neatly across the bridge of his nose. As per usual, chaos reigned in the meeting room, and the scene would have no doubt deteriorated from there had Russia decided not to interfere.

An instant chill settled over the room and the temperature seemed to drop even more drastically as the largest nation in the world got to his feet, his eyes frosted over with deadly anger. The hubbub immediately died down and countries began to back away from him, fearful of being caught in his icy wrath.

"You all will shut up before I slit your throats, da?"

All heads nodded synonymously, and even Switzerland did not dare utter another word.

"Good."

Russia sat back down, and the room resounded as hundreds of nations sighed in relief.

_"Well, are all of you quite done? Or can we finally talk business?"_

The nations simultaneously redirected their glares toward the phone, fear mutually melting to anger once more.

"Alright, you've proven your point, or at least a part of it." Denmark growled, or as well as he possibly could with the uncomfortable scenario of Australia on his head and his elbow jammed into Spain's vital regions.

"That being said, what is it that you want aru?" China continued, his shoulders tense but his expression forcefully calm. The same could not be said for South Korea, who had plastered both hands over his mouth, looking like he was barely able to stop himself from screaming something out loud in anger. Hong Kong sat steadily at his side, teacup at the ready, prepared to shove it into his brother's mouth should the latter be unable to contain himself any longer.

_"Now we're talking."_ One could almost see the grin of satisfaction that seemed to be bleeding through the phone, regardless that they had no visual of the enemy. The grinding of teeth could be heard around the conference room as the countries struggled to stay diplomatic. It was not in their nature to submit to the demands of another, and many of them looked like they'd rather eat their own foot than agree with the conditions of this mysterious caller.

_"Very well then. All of you'd better listen closely, because I don't wish to repeat myself. You have one week to convince your bosses that you will surrender yourselves to me."_

"Are you bloody insane?" England exploded from under France, who, thank god, was being true to his word and refraining from taking any perverted action. "Do realize what the hell you're asking? That's completely impossible!"

"Idiot!" Prussia yelled, feeling that he had not provided enough of his awesome opinions during the meeting. "As if we could do that! We can't ask billions of people to surrender to someone we don't even know!"

"For once, he's right." Spain muttered, his face scrunched up in pain. Denmark's elbow was still poking painfully into his vital regions, and it really wasn't the most comfortable scenario in the world. "That demand is absolutely outrageous. Asking the whole world the surrender just isn't possible."

"_Imbecile_," France growled, so furious he didn't even bother to take advantage of the mass of bodies surrounding him. "You, my friend, must be completely mad. Even if we are the personifications of our nations, we cannot control our people in such a way."

"Precisely aru!" China yelled, his expression incensed as his fist came crunching down on the table for the second time that day, adding another two feet to the crack already present in the middle of the wood. "My population is larger that that of any other country in the world! How do you think I can get every single one of them to react in a civilized manner to such a ridiculous notion?"

One by one, nations got to their feet and roared their anger, eyes alight with fury that the caller would even dare suggest such nonsense in their presence. The thin surface of order that had been maintained so strenuously shattered like glass under the intense pressure of the world's rage, and soon, the room was alight with furious voices once more.

"W-Wait! C-Calm down everyone!" Canada was waving his arms around in a desperate attempt to get their attention, but his effort was futile. His fellow nations were just too enraged to placate right now, and nothing short of a stampede of over a thousand elephants would be capable of snapping them to their senses. The thunderous chorus of disjointed voices easily swept aside his fragile whisper of a yell, and he could only watch with frustrated despair as their forced diplomatic facades disintegrated back to their usual chaotic nature. They were all nations with too much pride in their hearts, and feeling that they were being looked down upon, instinctively felt the need to demonstrate exactly how pissed off they were and that they were not beings to be toyed around with…

Dimly, he heard the caller yell for silence, but it was quickly lost in the sea of infuriated voices. It seemed like nothing would work to quiet the angered world, nothing except-

_"WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Germany! Fratello! OW! That hurts! OW! Stop! Someone help meeeeeeee!"_

The enraged shouts melted to shocked whispers as both Romano and Germany looked up, fear and horror glazed over their eyes as they instantly recognized the familiar voice.

"Venziano!"

"Italy!"

Broken sobs were heard in the background, accompanied by sickeningly cruel laughter as crack after crack was shrieked through the phone.

_"OW! That really hurts you know! OW! Stop it please! AH! Not the face! I'll do anything! OW! No, stop hurting meeeeeeeeeeee!"_

"YOU MOTHERFUCKING SON OF A BITCH!" Romano roared, flipping his chair over for the second time that day and, on this occasion, very nearly sending it through the window. Germany potentially might have had the same reaction had he not been trapped under a pile of nations, though his anger was evident as his professionalism faded away at the sound of his ally's voice.

"What do you think you're doing? Stop it!" The European nation thundered, still somehow managing to look formidable despite England's boot digging into the back of his head. His blue eyes were like chips of ice, horrified and furious.

A second party of nations was required to restrain Romano, consisting of China, Korea, Estonia and Sweden, and only when each one of them had glued themselves to a respective limb did they finally manage to subdue the furious Italian nation. The man was still spewing an extraordinary cloud of profane vocabulary, and it was quite incredible really to hear him spout such colourful language, often containing references to the mother of the caller. Some of the curses Canada had never even heard before (he suspected they might have been made up on the spot), while others were about enough to make his ears scream in pain. His mind was feeling quite scarred, yet he had a sinking feeling that these particularly vile comments just might be making themselves heard during the next hockey match.

"Alright stop! We get the point! Leave him alone and we'll discuss things further aru!" China yelled, his voice strained as even his strength was tested holding back Romano.

The screams of pain died down to a barrage of pitiful sobs and the cracks were no longer heard.

_"Fratello! Germany! Save me!"_ Italy could still be heard wailing as his voice faded away into the distance and the caller moved out of ear shot. Romano, although still cursing, had quieted down, his gaze burning holes into the table as he lowered his head. The sound of Germany gritting his teeth could be heard all around the room, which had fallen into dead silent following this latest revelation.

_"Well, I hope you all finally understand what sort of threat you face."_

The nations, although still evidently angry, did not dare object this time. Ones with missing friends and/or family looked at their hands nervously, out of fear that their own loved ones would pay the price should they speak against this mysterious man.

_"I will repeat my conditions again. In one week, the world is to surrender. All national flags are required to be lowered and replaced with the white flag of submission. World leaders are to collectively sign a treaty stating their assimilation into the New World Order. And if not... well, lets not hope it comes to that, correct?"_

"What about the rest of them?" Cuba asked, his eyes as hard as flint. "Where are the others? Especially that bastard America?"

"That's right," England spoke up, shoving France's arm out of his face to look toward the phone. "I refuse to believe that git has been captured. He wouldn't go down without taking half the bloody earth with him."

Murmurs of agreement were scattered around the conference room. Some looked certain that America was an undefeatable opponent. Others had eyes shadowed with doubt.

"Hmmm," the voice chuckled. "Very well then. If you all want to hear their voices so badly, then here they are."

For a moment, the entire meeting room was stone still, a perfect tableau. All eyes were trained on the phone, not even daring to blink in the even that they missed what was to come.

Then, like a storm of fire and thunder, they came.

One by one, screams of agony peeled through the air, some half-crazed with pain, others as if they were still trying with every scrap of their self control to hold onto their dignity. One by one, nations recognized the cries of their dear ones and felt their hearts torn apart as they heard themselves call back, professional impassiveness dissolved, pride forgotten.

Not a single missing voice failed to be heard. All those not present at the world meeting could be heard, each individual cry serving to merge with the hellish chorus that resounded like the cackle of the devil. Some were no longer capable of forming coherent words. Others that could either begged for mercy or screamed resilience. They were all there, every single one, Ukraine, Belarus, Belgium, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania...

But thundering at the peak of mountain, the loudest of them all, well, who else could it be? The strongest voice of the world, even now as powerful as it had always been, sounding like an eagle's cry among the chirping of the sparrows, still reverberating with endless strength and determination.

_"Is this all you got! Matthew throws punches harder than you! The hero will never give, you hear that? **The United States of America will never surrender!"**_

Canada felt his heart drop to his stomach. His face became deathly pale. His hands were trembling vigorously. Every drop of his body seemed to have been frozen, as if General Winter had just decided to sneeze in his direction. God, this just couldn't seriously be happening. For that was definitely, without a shred a doubt, the voice of-

"Alfred."

The reality was suffocating. This man, or rather, this group, had actually managed to capture America. The real, live, stronger-than-fucking-hell United States of America.

Just who the hell could they possibly be?

"Alright! Stop!" England hollered, fighting to make his voice heard above the symphony of screams and shouts. He looked and sounded absolutely horrified, and his expression mirrored that of every other nation in the room, but his cry held enough authority for it to be noticed among the jumble of anxious voices. In response, the phone became silent, prompting the countries to lower their volume once more.

_"Do you finally understand the magnitude of the situation?"_

No one spoke a word. The man took their silence to be a yes.

_"Then I'm sure that you will all put your best efforts to achieving what I want, correct?"_

"You're insane, you know that?" Denmark growled.

_"Perhaps, or at least only as crazy as the rest of you all. I assure you though, if my demands are not met in time, then I will not hesitate to carry out the punishment. You will not want to know what I shall do to them. Have I made myself clear?"_

Once again, not a single nation answered, refusing to give verbal confirmation to his insane demand.

_"Good."_ The caller was beginning to sound like a preschool teacher who had just finished lecturing a child. _"Are there any questions?"_

"Two."

Everyone turned to the nation that had just broken the silence and felt themselves jolt in surprise. Even a few quiet gasps of shock could be heard.

It was Canada.

A pause. Then, _"Well, go on. I shall answer to the best of my capability."_

The country was no longer trembling at the sound of his brother's shouts of determined denial. Although his purple eyes still held disbelief and fear at the current series of events, his expression remained calm and frighteningly impassive. A slight chill travelled down the spines of many at the aura that now radiated from him, unbearably cold and uncharacteristically threatening, in every way similar to the winters that reigned in his north.

"How do you seriously think you'll get away with this eh? And why?"

A long pause followed, as the caller seemed to be turning the questions over in his head. Then, a few seconds later, came the answers:

_"In response to the first one, that is for something that you will be finding out very soon. And as for why? I thought the reason should be obvious."_

There was another dramatic silence, and countries began to lean forward in anticipation for the answer.

_"This is simply what the world deserves."_

And with that ominous statement, the line was cut off and the nations were left with nothing but the shrill beeping of dial tone.

**End Chapter 3**

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><p><strong>Yeah, so, this update took quite a while, several weeks longer than I had hoped. My excuse is that I was applying for several different programs and I had exams coming up. <strong>

**Well the plot just gets thicker and thicker, and now, we have heard the voice of the culprit! Not that it would help much though, unfortunately, he was using a voice changer. I'm pretty sure that exists, but in case it doesn't, let's just pretend it does purely for the sake of plot.**

**And yes, I know the idea of having the whole world surrender sounds like something taken out of the loony bin, but I'll be revealing the reason why in the later chapters.**

**I'll try to update sooner next time, but there's no guarantee.**

**That's all for now folks.**

**Sherlockdetective99, signing out.**


	4. Pursuit

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or any of its characters.**_

_**Warning: Chapter contains swearing.  
><strong>_

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><p>Complete silence commenced in the seconds that followed the abrupt end of their ominous phone conversation. Every pair of eyes remained fixated on the innocent device sitting peacefully in the middle of the cracked conference table, as if hoping to hear more through the dial tone that now buzzed through the speakers.<p>

Then Romano proceeded to voice what they had all been simultaneously thinking.

"Who the _fuck_ was that?"

They wished there was an answer.

Warily, the room broke into whispers as countries began to discuss the urgent matter between them in small groups. France and England were locked in a fierce conversation, and while they looked furious, it was clear that for once, that rage was not being directed at each other. China consorted with Hong Kong and South Korea, the latter of which was waving his arms excitedly and likely spouting some sort of nonsensical theory, if one took the expressions of the former two as a hint. Hungary worriedly asked Austria a question, and the bespectacled country adjusted his glasses before giving an uncertain answer.

Canada shrank back into his chair, his legs trembling once more now that his rage had faded from the realization of America's capture. He had been so mad upon hearing his brother's voice that he'd spoken without thinking, asking the two questions on a whim out of sheer fury as to what had occurred. Now that he'd had a period of time to cool off and consider, he couldn't even believe what he'd done himself.

He was being awfully bold today, wasn't he? Well, at least everyone could see him when he was.

But what had the caller meant with that final mysterious statement? What the world deserved?

That answer had been given in such a casual, backhanded way, that one had to wonder if the caller himself was even part of this world.

"Everyone! Attention! Eyes to the front!"

Heads snapped up and swerved to Germany, having untangled himself and the others from the little incident regarding Switzerland after issuing a stern warning to the latter country. Arguing over leaders now would be senseless. If the blonde European country had led them from the start, he may as well continue it.

Said country took a deep breath to relax as he felt every nation in the room rest their calculative gazes upon him alone, and he carefully considered the best way to word his following statements.

"It seems we have received firsthand… the opinions of the perpetrators responsible."

"Just get to the point already West!" Prussia interrupted, driven to seriousness. "What the hell do you think's going on?!"

England furrowed his bushy eyebrows. "Obviously, someone appears to be rather displeased with how the world is being run nowadays."

"But… just how many are there?" Spain questioned worriedly. "We know there has to be more than one, but just how big of a threat are they really?"

"Well they don't seem like they're simply playing around," Germany muttered gravely, eyes steely with barely hidden anger.

"So they're going to capture thirteen nations and force the rest of us to surrender with them as hostages?!" Australia yelled in disbelief.

"How is that going to work though?" France mused. "Even if we surrendered personally, convincing everyone in our country itself is well beyond the impossible. I cannot understand how they can possibly hope to succeed."

"Whatever they have in store, we have to act as soon as possible aru," China pointed out. "Since it is clear that we cannot convince the world to surrender, the only choice we have is to find out who the culprit is and stop them before they can do more damage aru."

"Just what I was thinking."

Murmurs of agreement followed China's reasoning. It seemed like it was the only thing they could really do.

"So then, should we start with narrowing down the possible culprits?" France inquired.

"I suppose we'll have to consider everyone currently present in this room innocent as of now," England theorized. "Obviously no one was talking into a phone while the call took place."

And although everyone mentally reminded themselves of the possibility that one of them could still be a part of this strange conspiracy, no one stated it outright. As Germany had said earlier, the last thing they needed now was suspicion amongst themselves.

Spain frowned. "But… if you leave out everyone here… then the only ones responsible could be…"

"The 'captured' ones." Canada muttered, speaking up for the first time. Some of the nations nodded in agreement, and others looked thoughtful. If there was one thing this crisis was good for, it was that at least he was finally being acknowledged.

"Precisely," Austria noted while sending a curt nod in the northern nation's direction. "Which means that only some have been kidnapped for real."

"If that's the case, they could all be in on it for all we know." Germany pointed out. "Either they're truly threatening us, or they may still be playing some sort of untimely joke."

"But West," Prussia interjected abruptly, interrupting him not the first time that day. "You were attacked too, remember? That idiot who spiked your beer sure didn't look like he was there for shits and giggles."

"Liechtenstein would _never_ do such a thing." No one had the nerve to argue with the still seething Switzerland, who was no less intimidating even without his confiscated guns.

"Japan isn't much of a prankster." South Korea's comment went unanimously unchallenged.

"Not to mention, all of you heard the captured… screaming." A solemn silence descended in the aftermath of France's quiet reminder. "I believe we've all participated in one war or another. Do you think those screams were mere jokes?"

No one responded. The answer was obvious.

There had been true, genuine suffering in every strangled cry of agony that ripped itself from the speakers and engraved itself in their horrified ears. This fact was doubtlessly unquestionable.

"Then… it wasn't them either?" Hungary inquired, her expression confused.

"Well… at least this definitely isn't a joke." Cuba replied uncertainly.

"We did hear all of their voices, da?" Everyone's head swiveled to look at Russia, who, like Canada, had not spoken until just now. Some still shrank back at the sight of his fearsome purple aura, but at least he didn't look like he was ready to rip off their heads anymore.

"Oh, that's right!" South Korea jumped up suddenly. "Did we hear the voices of everyone who was kidnapped?"

"Well, I think we all heard America. That bloody shouting of his was certainly hard to miss." The frustration in England's voice was a clear indicator as to just how worried he really was about the much younger missing superpower.

"Taiwan was definitely there. As well as…Japan." That had definitely been hard to say. It was universally known that the island nation rarely ever spoke above a polite whisper. And while China, Hong Kong and South Korea had noticed that his cries were far more restrained than the others, the raising of his voice had still worried them to no end.

"I definitely heard Belarus. She was screeching like a demon."

"Right, and Lithuania I think sounded like he was trying to help her."

"I heard Seychelles."

"Me too. I think I also heard Ukraine."

"Ukraine was definitely there."

"I h'rd T'no."

"Sweden heard Finland."

"Iceland was with him."

"We know that Liechtenstein and North Italy were definitely among them."

"Is that all?"

"No wait, I remember Latvia too. Poor guy sounded like he was having a complete breakdown."

"Alright then! That's enough!" England shouted. "So, has every person on our missing list been heard by at least three or more nations in this room?"

There was a hubbub of noise as various countries shouted their confirmation, and eventually, it was established that indeed, all those "kidnapped" had been heard over the phone.

"Alright then. So we definitely heard them all, but did they all sound as if they were genuinely in pain?"

Various nations nodded slowly. England cursed. So did Prussia.

"Wonderful," The Brit muttered. "It seems like none of them are the culprits either."

"Then who the fuck is it!?" Romano repeated the statement he'd uttered just after the phone call had ended. "If it's not us, and it's not them, who is it?!"

"If it isn't a nation…" Hong Kong murmured thoughtfully, and China turned to him in puzzlement.

"Hong Kong? Do you have something to say?"

All eyes turned to the young teenager, who looked slightly caught off guard by the sudden attention but remained stoic nonetheless.

"Well, if it isn't a nation responsible… could it possibly another sort of personification?"

"You mean a Micronation?!" England exclaimed, horrified as he thought of Sealand.

"Maybe not even a Micronation… even cities, province and regions that may have personified. They may be possibilities." France mumbled.

"But would they really be capable? Do you really think even a Micronation could take down someone like America? Sealand might be harder than concrete, but I still doubt he'd be a match against a real country." England argued.

"It may be our number one possibility for now. We don't know just how much damage they might be capable of if they did indeed work together. Simply because one ant cannot overcome an elephant does not mean a hundred million cannot." Germany cut in. It went without saying that the rest of the world became quite wary whenever England and France discussed any given topic. A heated argument between the two was not merited at the moment.

"I was wondering something." Netherlands spoke up now as he placed his hands behind his head and crossed his legs. "I know we're discussing who might be responsible and whatnot, but about that call, shouldn't we be able to trace it?"

"My people have already been on it." England replied. "I asked my employee to alert my labs. Still, I doubt we're dealing with fools here. If they're smart, they'll have used a pay phone or cell phone that they've already crushed to oblivion."

"Well looks like that lead's probably dead," Prussia muttered bitterly.

There was a brief silence as the nations mulled in disappointment. It certainly would've been heavenly if the caller could simply be traced and found, which would've certainly solved one glaring issue and given progress to all the others.

But that silence was soon broken, though not in the way any of them would've expected.

For just as Germany drew himself upwards and readied himself to say something, the door flew open yet again, and the world turned to see that once again, the English employee had burst into the room unannounced.

"Did you find them?" England demanded before the rattled young woman had a chance to speak.

"Y-Yes sir!" She reported, fumbling through her clipboard as she searched for the proper document. "The origin of the phone was located!"

"Where!?" Several countries shouted at once, forgetting to stay calm in the wake of the situation. If even the cellphone itself could be located, it just might be able to provide them with potential information needed to deduce the identity of the supposed kidnappers.

The woman took a step back, clearly intimidated by the fact that she was being yelled at by a number of highly important individuals, but nonetheless did her best to keep her cool as she responded.

"Y-You may not believe this sir… but the location of the call was traced back to none other than this building itself!"

"What!?" Romano roared as he lost all restraint and stood up in his chair. "You mean he was right under our _fucking noses?_"

France turned sharply to England. "Angleterre, this is your home. Should you not have sensed him earlier?"

The blonde-haired nation shook his head viciously. "I didn't feel anything! There were too many of you! Now that I know someone is here, I can sense them a little, but it's definitely not someone I'm familiar with!"

"You can still _feel _them?!" China asked incredulously, eyes suddenly shining with fire as he stood up with several other bewildered nations.

"Then… that means they're still in the country!" Canada gasped, his grip tightening until Kumajirou began to struggle for air.

The mood rose dramatically as every nation was now on their feet, and excited voices filled the air as the countries rapidly began to discuss the next best course of action.

"If the caller is still here, then do you think-"

"That's means the missing might be here too?"

"No, shouldn't England have felt them earlier if they were all here? They would've been impossible to miss…"

"But why would they do that? It'd be a dead giveaway!"

"And shipping them out of the country before we noticed wouldn't be possible…"

"Quiet!" Germany yelled over the intense discussion. "Stay organized, we need to consider this calmly-"

And at that precise moment, something akin to a sixth sense swept through every nation in the room, and a cold chill shuddered down their individual spines. Pure instinct took over and silenced them instantly, and as if they were all one being, turned simultaneously towards the door where the bewildered employee still stood, baffled by their conversation. Like wolves, their hackles raised and their hungry eyes glared, toward the entrance where the foreign presence demanded their attention…

And in the doorway, looming behind the still oblivious young woman, was the shadow of a man. Dressed in a cloak as black as midnight, an aura of sinister intent loomed in his wake, shocking the nations and freezing them unaware. Too surprised to react, for just half a second, the world stared and he stared back from beneath the hood that hid his eyes.

Then, as suddenly as he appeared, he left, vanishing into thin air as he commenced the untouchable sprint that only personifications of the earth were capable of.

And in an instant, the world reacted.

"After him!" England roared.

"Block the exits! Make sure he doesn't leave this building!" France hollered over the angry shouts of the nations as they swarmed to the entrance and spilled into the hallways. He also made sure to stop and remove the terrified young employee before the woman was crushed under the herd of furious nations.

England went straight after the cloaked figure, followed by Germany, China and Russia. The rest of the various nations directed themselves to the various exits scattered throughout the building, having heard and remembered France's reminder, and planted themselves firmly in front of the wooden doors. Security guards stared in bafflement and tried to ask questions, but wisely stayed silent when ordered to.

Canada, seeing that there were more than enough nations to secure the inside of the building, ran to the roof. France and Australia tailed him. If by some chance the mysterious intruder did manage to escape, they would have a three hundred sixty degree perspective of where and when he did do so.

Australia shoulder checked the door and sent it flying across the roof top. France and Canada followed after him, and after a shared glance between the three, each one selected a respective side of the building to watch over. The last one was taken by Kumajirou.

Canada narrowed his eyes as he peered over the edge, gazing intently at the ground with the precision of a hawk. The people of London swarmed about below. The freezing rain was still coming down hard and every drop pierced his coat, sharp as daggers of ice. It was crucial now that he kept a proper lookout, should there be any chance that the figure might leave the building.

_You won't get away,_ Canada thought to himself, gripping the side of the ledge.

_The whole world's after you. How do you intend to get yourself out of this one?  
><em>

* * *

><p>England swore under his breath as he caught a small glimpse of the fleeing figure, only for him to turn a corner, disappearing from view yet again. The damn git was frustrating mouse to catch.<p>

He skidded a few feet as he rounded said corner, and caught sight of the man-or woman-entering the stairwell, throwing open the door as he swept through the entrance.

"He's going down the stairs!" England yelled back to his companions.

"Aren't we on the ground level though?" Germany asked, puzzled.

"Which means he's going straight to the boiler room. We can trap him there!"

The statement seemed to send a new burst of the strength to the determined nations, and they picked up the pace. Even the four thousand year old China no longer complained of back pains as he too followed after his younger colleagues at the speed of sound.

None of them took the stairs so much as they simply leapt down the whole flight of them, landing heavily on the concrete and each leaving behind a small crater for one of England's construction teams to fix up. Russia was the first to recover, and with his monstrous strength, tore the door off one of its hinges as he entered the basement.

The room was pitch black, instantly sending each of them onto high alert.

"Stay on your guard. He could be anywhere." Germany warned.

"Hold on. I'll turn on the lights aru." China fumbled with the nearby wall until he felt a switch. He flicked it.

At once the room lit up with a dim glow as the rusty basement lights hiccuped a few times before reluctantly coming to life. The hum of the boiler resonated through the room as the four nations tentatively gazed about the dusty area.

"Where did he go?" Russia's voice seemed twice as eerie accompanied by the quiet buzzing of the machinery.

A clattering noise from behind the boiler seemed to answer his question.

"There!"

The four nations spread out as they approached, treading as a tiger would stalk among the leaves. Their footsteps rang loud in the otherwise relatively quiet basement as their gazes travelled warily about the room. The need to be cautious was mutual; the last thing they needed now was for their target to slip out from right under their noses.

Germany held up three fingers. The others nodded their understanding and braced themselves.

Russia reached for his pipe in his thick winter coat.

Two fingers.

England whispered something to the invisible winged green rabbit floating cautiously beside him.

One finger.

China inhaled deeply, ready to call upon every martial arts technique he knew and invented for the fight to come.

Pounce.

In unison, they leapt forward to surround the enemy.

Only to find the space occupied not by a nation, but a small ticking device.

Understanding clicked instantly.

A bomb with a specially modified reactor to light, programmed to begin count down the moment the first photon registered in its highly sensitive system.

England swore. Russia stared. China stepped back. Germany reacted.

"GET BACK NOW!"

The countdown was at two seconds.

They broke out of their trance and rushed to the door.

One second left.

China threw open the door and ushered them all in.

Zero.

Germany and Russia yanked in the eldest nation just as England slammed the iron door shut.

The explosion came.

* * *

><p>A sudden vibration rippled below Canada's feet, nearly knocking him off balance. Yelping in shock, he grabbed the ledge before he fell and crouched down, lowering his centre of gravity. Bewildered, he looked over at France and Australia, both appearing just as baffled as was.<p>

"What's going on?!" Australia shouted, waving his arms about as he balanced dangerously close to the edge of the roof before throwing himself down.

"Is it an earthquake?" France yelled.

But just as soon as it had come, it disappeared, and the building was still once more. The three nations and Kumajirou shared a mutual glance of confusion.

_What the hell just happened?  
><em>

* * *

><p>"That <em>damned git!<em>"

As soon as the explosion died away, England stood up to open the door. The four were now faced with a significantly more battered entrance and a mostly destroyed basement. Scalding hot water had been scattered all over the walls, short circuiting most of the lights and drenching the debris in the room.

"How did he disappear aru!?" China exclaimed, staring in shock at the destroyed area.

Russia said nothing, wordlessly passing through the ruined entrance as he headed towards the area the bomb had been located in. The other three shared a glance before following.

Treading through the ruined machinery, England mentally seethed over the fact that the perpetrator had now not only kidnapped various nations and issued them such ridiculous demands, but had now caused him a good deal of property damage as well.

When they arrived at the spot, none of them were pleased at what they saw.

Though the wall was blackened and covered in a mixture of water and soot, there was still the very clear, unmistakeable outline of a ventilation duct opening.

"Just like in a bloody damned spy movie," England spat, glaring at the hole as if it were to blame.

"There's nothing we can do now." Germany noted. "We can only hope that one of the other nations will be there when he re-emerges."

Russia muttered foul word under his breath.

* * *

><p>Spain and Romano had been stationing themselves in front of a small exit to the west of the building. But as the former tried to restrain the latter from assaulting an overly curious security guard, something else caught their attention.<p>

"What the fuck is that banging noise?" Romano muttered, his eyes directed to the general direction of the mysterious sound.

Before Spain could reply, a ventilation shaft located a few metres to their right suddenly exploded open, and right before their dumbfounded eyes, the cloaked figure crawled out into view.

It took them less than a second to react.

"There's the bastard!" Romano screamed.

"Stop right there!" Spain yelled.

The mysterious figure did not even look in their direction, merely rising instantly to his feet and taking off down the hall once more with two nations in his wake.

"Come back you motherfucker!"

The man swerved into the stairwell once more, and by the time Romano and Spain had thrown open the door, the tip of his cloak could be seen flapping above somewhere near the third floor.

"There he goes!"

The two countries tore up the stairs, Romano slightly ahead, Spain struggling to keep up with his former charge. They caught a glimpse of the black cloak disappearing through the entrance to the seventh floor, and they hurried to catch up.

At last, they sighted the man heading into one of the smaller office rooms. Romano pulled ahead of his companion, and cursing as usual, he prepared to wrench open the door.

_CRASH!_

A rather feminine scream was heard, and in his shock, the country of South Italy hesitated, unsure of what had just commenced. Spain caught up in the extra space of time, and grimly, he opened the door.

The sight of a terrified young man in a suit among a somewhat wrecked office greeted them. They stared past him, past the overturned table, past the ruined paperwork, past the fragments of shattered glass…

Only one word was on their mind. Romano voiced it.

"_Fuck."_

Their target had escaped out the window.

* * *

><p>"Here!"<p>

Canada was alerted to Kumajirou's cry, and he looked over to see his furry friend standing on his hind legs, waving his front paws frantically. No words were needed between them. Running over, he scooped up the bear and shouted over to France and Australia.

"He's this way!"

They were next to him in an instant, and peering, all three of them could catch a glimpse of a dark figure zipping through the crowd in a manner similar to a frenzied bee.

"Let's go!"

Canada gulped as he saw his former guardian leap off the roof without much more than a trace of hesitation, and inhaling deeply, he followed suit with Australia right next to him.

They plummeted through the air, the wind and rain howling past them viciously on their way down. Ten stories were passed before they finally landed with a crash far louder than they would've hoped. Canada prayed that England wouldn't be too irritated by the fresh new two-metre wide dents in his parking lot.

About a hundred metres ahead, they could just barely see the fleeing figure attempting to make his getaway.

"There he is!"

"Quick, after him!"

All three took off, and as their speed increased, the world slowed. Cars began moving at the pace of a human stride. Cyclists trudged along at the speed of a snail. Humans barely seemed to be in motion all together.

And so the final leg of the chase began.

Weaving through crowds, ducking through traffic, minds working constantly to find the most efficient path through the packed streets of London, the three nations ran the absolute fastest they felt they could go. The lines of reality blurred and blended together, until it became hard to distinguish obstacles from one another. Quicker than sound, yet careful not to hurt a human, the pursuit clearly became more difficult to them than to their target, as he seemed not to care who he collided into in his mad attempt to escape. Many times, they found people and objects sent flying, and they hurried to right them before the speed could cause them critical damage.

"This bloke's a real bastard, whoever he or she is," Australia growled as he caught a middle-aged man with a blank expression on his face, the events having happened too fast for him to even register shock yet. "I mean, nations are one thing, but civilians? Does this guy have no soul?"

"If we're successful, we'll find out soon," France replied, grabbing a post box out of midair before it collided with an elderly lady and her dog.

"Kumajirou, go." Canada commanded as he hurled his companion forward. The bear took off like a wolf and disappeared through the crowd, whirling around feet and tires as he headed after the target. Kumajirou was much smaller and more versatile, unlike the rest of them, and would likely be much more successful in threading himself through the population without causing too much harm.

Over cars they leapt and under trucks they ducked, struggling to keep a visual on their escapee. Corners were turned, objects were hurdled, and overall, the culprit was presenting himself to be an incredibly difficult target to catch up.

"When will this end? He knows he can't possibly get away like this, doesn't he?" Canada gasped, his breath beginning to come in short bursts as the limits of his stamina drew closer. It wasn't so much the length of time they'd been running that exhausted him. It was the issue of constantly staying on alert for citizens and avoiding rooted objects that robbed them of their endurance far faster that he'd have fathomed possible.

"How's he runnin' so much either? I feel like m' lungs are ready t' explode!" Australia panted, clearly not faring much better than his fellow Commonwealth ally. Nations could only run for so long in this state before they tired quickly.

But among the three of them, France was likely the worst off. Being centuries older than the both of them, his age was proving to be a problem in his attempt to keep up, and soon, catching the target had become less of concern in comparison to the mere issue of staying at the same pace as his companions.

"Keep going…No matter what…" Heaved the exhausted European, and Australia shared a worried glance with Canada. France was clearly approaching his limit, and if he shorted out, it seemed there was little they could do other than continue the chase by themselves…

The figure turned a final corner and swerved suddenly into a rather fancy restaurant, to their complete and utter surprise. Kumajirou followed as swiftly as a persistent bloodhound, his stubby white tail disappearing down a corridor as he continued to tail the fleeing figure.

The three nations hesitated for a second to share confused glances. What was the culprit trying to pull?

"Should we follow? It might be a trap." Canada inquired worriedly, looking at Australia, who turned to look at France, who still looked utterly exhausted. Nonetheless, the blonde nation drew himself up with a sharp breath, and his calm blue eyes burned with rarely seen fire as he considered the situation.

"…We should proceed with caution. We can't simply leave him alone in there with innocents."

Canada and Australia nodded in agreement. They cautiously entered the restaurant and proceeded in the direction the target had disappeared. Through lavish corridors they ran, avoiding waiters with menus and chefs with trollies laden in English food. They now relied entirely on Canada to lead, as he only he could follow after the spiritual trail Kumajirou had left behind.

People stared at them, and a few staff members attempted to inquire their intentions. All of them were shot down with glares from Australia.

Finally, they reached the storage room door. Canada felt something twist within him. This was the end of the trail. Kumajirou was in there now.

He sent a nervous glance to his companions, and they nodded. France approached the door and placed a hand on the door knob. He hesitated.

Canada and Australia waited in anticipation, their breaths held.

France threw open the door.

A gust of cool air met them as they filed into the room, eyeing the shelves as they prepared themselves for a possible struggle. Australia resisted the urge to shudder. He detested low temperatures.

Sitting in the middle of the room on his hind legs, head turning left and right in clear confusion, was Kumajirou.

"Where is he?" Canada inquired to his pet, deeply relieved that he hadn't been hurt during the chase.

The bear returned his gaze with serious and puzzled eyes.

"He's gone."

"What?!"

The outburst came from Australia, who had been inspecting the nearby ice packs.

"What do you mean he's gone? Didn't he just come in here? There's no exit." France noted with a glance around the room.

Kumajirou shook his head.

"That's not what I meant."

His dark beady eyes grew hard with icy cold suspicion.

"He's no longer here. He's disappeared."

Silence settled.

* * *

><p>On the ground floor of the conference building, England snapped his head up and stared with disbelief into nothingness. His eyes widened and a slightly muffled noise gurgled from his throat. China turned towards him in concern.<p>

"England? What is it aru?"

For a moment, England said nothing. Then, under the stares of the three other nations, he cursed quietly and bit his lip tightly enough to draw blood.

"Impossible."

Germany frowned. "What is?"

England swept all three with his fierce green glare, confusion and anger burning in the pupils of his eyes.

"He's gone."

* * *

><p><strong>End Chapter 4<strong>

**Ok, I apologize to everyone who's been looking forward to this chapter for seeming like I dropped off the face of the earth. Though there's probably not that many people anyways. Either way, I'm sorry I went through this several-month long hiatus that I really hadn't seen coming.**

**I admit that I had exams and summatives that I worked like hell on back before the summer, but in all honesty, I just had a huge writer's block that stemmed after I lost some of my original motivation to write. It took me ages to get back on track, and I'm not sure if this is the last time it'll happen. I do hope to finish this story one day though, because I have the entire ending planned out and I just have to work on the middle bit.**

**Either way, to the chapter itself. I branched out a bit on a nation's ability to use superhuman abilities so that the chase would be more epic. And I'm pretty sure that slamming into someone at the speed of sound would've blown apart those bystanders instantly, but I didn't want to deal with issues regarding the slaughter of a whole bunch of random people in the streets. So I just decided that if ordinary humans were indeed affected by a nation's abilities, any consequences could be reversed if another nation fixed the problem. I thought this would make some sense if you consider the fact that anything moving at that sort of speed on the ground would probably leave a crater with every step and would affect the surrounding area in a whole bunch of ways that you'd never see in fiction. If Superman can save people while catching them at super sonic speeds, I don't see why nations can't either.**

**So why has this mysterious stranger executed such a bold move upon the countries of the world? And just how did he disappear without a trace? Let's see how this unfolds, shall we?**

**That'll be all for now. If anyone was still waiting for this, I apologise again, and I hope this chapter will be satisfactory. Thanks for the patience.**

**Sherlockdetective99, signing out.**


	5. Unions

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or any of its characters.**_

_**This chapter is dedicated to my grandmother, who died hours after I finished writing it.**_

* * *

><p>"WHAT DO YOU BLOODY MEAN HE JUST DISAPPEARED!?"<p>

Canada winced at the shrill pitch of his former guardian's furious shout as he tried to meet England's fiery gaze head on. He'd been dreading their reunion with the other nations the moment he realized they'd lost their target in that English restaurant.

France remained far more composed as he took a step forward to face the livid country directly.

"We mean exactly that Angleterre. The man ran into the basement and vanished from the area. At the present, we simply have no explanation as to how this occurred."

The grinding of teeth was quite audible around the entire room. The world had reconvened in the meeting hall in confusion and disappointment after the three pursuers had returned empty handed. Many sent glares of hostility towards them, unwilling to understand or accept the explanation they'd been given. They felt, rightfully so, that no one, nation or mortal, should have been able to simply disappear from thin air.

"Calm yourself England. You yourself felt him disappearing at around that time aru."

Said island nation whipped around to glare at China with furious green eyes.

"I am aware of that! And whatever it might look like, I am not mad at these three! What I'm damn pissed about is just how this bastard pulled his little vanishing act while several countries had been hot on his tail!"

"Are you sure that was exactly what happened?" Germany raised the question that everyone had been pondering, and the previously hidden suspicion in his eyes became glaringly obvious. "Personifications can do many things, but I am quite certain that teleportation is not one of them."

"Yes, that is what happened!" Australia countered, obviously furious with the notion that he was being blamed for the failed pursuit. "I don't know what or how, but that's what it is!"

"And how do we know you're telling the fucking truth!?" Romano spat. "How do we know you three aren't fucking responsible for this whole thing!?"

Australia rose from his seat, clearly ready to pummel the southern half of Italy into the ground, but felt himself being stopped by France and Canada on either side.

"Restrain your aggression Australia. As much as I despise to admit it, they have the right to be suspicious of us."

Canada breathed a sigh of relief as the offended country made a disgusted sound in his throat before sitting down with a thump.

But the damage was already done as the already choking tension in the room only increased with Romano's accusation. The weight of the world's stares was heavy and blinding with blatant hostility, and loath as he was to admit, Canada was beginning to wish that he were invisible again.

However, just as it appeared that the rest of the nations were about to verbally rip them to shreds, France once again intervened and took up the explanation for the two younger countries.

"Before you begin spouting your accusations, please listen to what I have to say. Canada, Australia and myself all headed towards the roof in the event that our escaped suspect would be able to exit the building. We had no communication beforehand and we only encountered each other near the top floors. If we had planned for this earlier, then we had no insurance that another country might have headed to the same destination as us, non?"

Here the Frenchman stopped as he defiantly returned the hundreds of glares being sent in his direction. The moment was thick with silence as the countries tensed under the pressure of the fierce staring contest, three nations against the rest of the world. Then at last, China, the voice of reason, let out a defeated sigh and broke the tension.

"They have a valid argument aru. Any single one of us had the potential to head to the roof. I don't think there's any point in pursuing this topic any further aru."

Canada heard Australia sigh in relief beside him, and he matched it with one of his own. The other nations, though still grumbling in suspicion, took to heart China's words and relaxed back into their chairs.

"Ok, whatever. Like, let's just say for now they don't have anything to do with it. Now what are we supposed to do?"

Poland was now speaking for the first time since confirming Lithuania's absence. Odd as it was, it seemed incredibly eerie to not see the flashy nation blathering about fashion and ponies.

But he did have a point and a very good question, rare as they came. No one answered immediately, and so the countries pushed themselves deeper into their chairs, engrossed in thought. Square one. They were completely back at square one.

Perhaps, Canada thought, that explained why the world had been so eager to blame the three of them for their shortcomings. In a situation like this, even accusing the innocent felt better than having no one to accuse at all. Perhaps it hadn't been the most decent of actions, but it still wasn't something he could hold a grudge against.

"What happened exactly though?" Spain was the first to speak, and the gazes of the world unified to redirect themselves towards him.

"It feels like we don't have a complete picture of what's going on right now. All I really know is that after the intruder fled the meeting room, Romano and I found him exiting a ventilation shaft on the ground level, and after we chased him to the seventh floor, he escaped through a window. What happened before and after?"

"Spain brings up a good point," Austria noted as he sat up straight in his chair. "I believe that none of us have a complete understanding of what occurred during our pursuit of the intruder, as only a select few of us managed to encounter him. Perhaps it would be wise to first establish a formal recount of all the events before we continue. It may provide us with information to work with."

"That sounds reasonable," Germany agreed. "Very well then. As my group was the one that followed him immediately after he left the room, we shall start."

And so, the various nations who had been directly involved in chasing the mysterious perpetrator launched into their own accounts of the event. England described the daring escape into the basement and the hidden bomb that had nearly blown them back to their capitals. China recalled the opened ventilation duct near the site of the explosion while Russia nodded silently in confirmation. Spain elaborated the short pursuit he'd engaged in with Romano, while the latter occasionally illustrated the events with a curse or two.

Finally, all eyes turned to France, Australia and Canada as they provided their own experience of the high-speed chase through the streets of London. The suspicion of the other countries, though notable toned down, remained nonetheless throughout their recounting, and England narrowed his eyes in fury as they mentioned the numerous innocents who'd nearly been disintegrated by the culprit's ruthless haste to shake his pursuers.

"Bloody bastard… when I get my hands on him…"

France resisted the urge to suggest he carry out punishment by force-feeding the man with his lethal scones.

And as expected, upon describing the abrupt end to their pursuit, several eyebrows rose in confusion, most notably that of England's.

"So… he really just disappeared?"

France gave his rival a withering glance. "I believe you've already asked that once, Angleterre."

"I'm aware!" England snapped. If there was one thing that never changed during a world crisis, it was how annoying the stupid frog was.

"But I still have a hard time believing it! The only way he really could have teleported is through use of very powerful dark magic!"

Despite the very serious situation they were currently in, most countries could not help but send him a withering glance at the mention of the mystic arts. Sensing this, England glared back, obviously furious that he wasn't being taken seriously.

"Well do you have any fancy teleportation machines or anything? Because I certainly don't see anyone else giving a better explanation!"

Norway, one of the few nations who had not appeared skeptical, nodded sagely, to the dismay of the ones sitting closer to him.

"It's possible. Certain magical entities can also spirit objects away to other locations, nations included."

France gave Canada an exasperated glance, who shuffled nervously and clung to Kumajirou a little tighter. He wasn't exactly a big believer of England's magic either, but it was true that he didn't really have any better ideas.

"Let's… not linger on that topic for the moment. What about how the culprit was able to deliver us the voices of the captured ones despite them not being in the country?"

Prussia rolled his eyes at Austria, the one who had asked the question.

"Don't be stupid, how hard could that possibly be? At the minimum, all you need is two phones and put the receivers next to each other. And that's not even bringing up the possibility that they might've been pre-recorded."

"Prussia's correct."

Cuba and Estonia suddenly opened the battered wooden doors as they entered the room, white plastic gloves on their hands as they placed a box on the table.

"Where were you two?"

The inquiry came from South Korea, who was leaning forward in his seat as he tried to get a closer look at what the two nations had just brought in.

"Germany asked us to go investigate the basement while the rest of you reconvened here."

Cuba sent a glance over to the blonde European, who nodded in confirmation.

Spain frowned and leaned forward as well.

"Alright then, what do you have there?"

Estonia carefully lifted the lid and fished out two dark, sooty, and extremely dented rectangular objects.

"Phones. You wouldn't believe how sturdy these things are made nowadays."

Cuba took the larger one and held it up for all to see.

"Iphone Four. Rather expensive to blow up if you ask me."

Estonia raised the other one, which was slightly smaller and squarer.

"Blackberry it seems. Canadian brand, right?"

Every turned to look at the country of origin, who shrank and nodded in confirmation.

England frowned as stood up for a closer look.

"America was taken while visiting Canada after all. It easily could have been picked up then. Besides, Blackberries aren't only sold in the country they're made in."

The suspicion cleared as the countries looked away. Canada sighed in relief.

"I doubt we can trace them to the stores they were bought from. The inner hardware's been melted beyond recognition. I already asked the forensic team down in the basement."

Estonia's news was met with scowls of frustration.

"So there's another dead end."

India groaned as he cast Denmark an irritated glance.

"Wonderful. So now what?"

Germany shook his head as he stood up wearily, already exhausted by his position of leadership.

"I don't think there's anything we can do here altogether. The culprit has already escaped and left little evidence to trace him. I believe the best we can do now is return to our homes and search individually."

The room became slightly uneasy as the other countries cast each other uncertain glances. Was this the only option they had left? Could they only search mindlessly with no other leads to follow now that they had no real evidence to go on?

France sighed and nodded his headed.

"I hate to agree, but I think Germany is correct. That sounds like the best option for now."

Canada closed his eyes and sank back into his seat in disappointment. His country was the second largest in the world, and much of it covered in barren icy landscapes at this time of year. He would definitely have his work cut out for him if the one they were searching for ever turned up on his homeland.

"Actually, I was thinking of something else."

Many were quite surprised to see Switzerland talking now, far calmer than he had been half an hour ago. His eyes still burned with steely rage, but he seemed to be taking great efforts to control himself for the sake of finding his sister.

Germany appeared hesitant for fear that the nation's explosive rage would once again present a problem, but nonetheless motioned for him to continue.

"Right now, we don't know who's responsible for this. It's still possible that someone in this very room is responsible. And he or she may not be alone."

The world tensed, and Canada folded nervously folded his hands on the table. Was Switzerland going to imply that no one should be trusted? Even after what Germany had mentioned about needing for everyone to work together?

But that was not the point Switzerland was trying to present. The temperamental nation stood up and pointed one finger on the table, fixing his gaze on all of his listening colleagues with no traceable sign of fear in his eyes.

"We should all be split into teams of no less than four. As a group, they should all investigate their respective countries together and keep each other informed of progress. At the same time, they should also keep an eye on each other, just in case one of them is a part of this mysterious… kidnapping clique."

A few nations began to nod in agreement, realizing that this was a fairly good idea, especially in light of suspicions currently running rampant.

"Also, though Germany's performance has been satisfactory, it wouldn't be wise to have a single leader. Each continent should have one nation in charge of the investigation, as a supervisor of sorts. In the event that any single team becomes suspicious of a member, they should inform not only the leader of their continent, but of at least three others as well."

One by one, the countries began to sit up straighter, nodding more with every passing word of Switzerland's. Some began to mumble to themselves, while others verbally voiced their consent.

"If any country is deemed suspicious enough by their teammates, then they should be immediately pulled from investigation for questioning by the three leaders contacted. This way, anyone with the potential to be involved can be detained before they can carry out any further objectives."

"Hold on," Cuba interrupted. "What if one of the leaders falls under suspicion?"

Switzerland looked at him gravely.

"The leaders will also be a part of a team. They are no more immune to suspicion and detainment than any other country."

Cuba paused for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders. The explanation sufficed. Having finished his speech, Switzerland looked around the table.

"Well?"

Austria adjusted his glasses.

"That's sounds fine to me. Any objections?"

The nations whispered among themselves and weighted opinions. No one seemed to be particularly averse to the idea.

"Alright then. In that case, how do you believe these teams should be formed?"

The question came from Germany, who didn't appear bothered by the idea of sharing leadership. Nervously, Canada raised a hand.

"I-If there are several nations working against us in tandem, we shouldn't be allowed to pick our own groups. I… I think we should draw names out of a hat."

Both France and England nodded, then gave each other disdainful looks, as if disturbed by the fact that they had actually agreed on something.

"I think that's fairly reasonable. I believe you've seen the notebooks I've provided for you all. Write down your names on a sheet of paper, and I'll come around and collect them."

England stood up and walked over to a nearby cupboard, pulling out a dusty old magician's hat. Several countries look at him in skeptic disbelief.

"Angleterre… You actually have a magician's hat in the world meeting hall? I'm sure Canada meant it in a figurative sense."

England blushed and sputtered at his rival, glaring at all those who dared to look as if they believed him to be insane.

"I-I just happen to have it here, alright? It suffices, doesn't it?!"

France rolled his eyes, but didn't say anymore. Canada resisted the urge to face palm.

Germany groaned quietly at his colleague's persistent interest in the supernatural, but supposed there was no harm in going along with it.

"Alright, fine. Is everyone ready?"

Most countries nodded their heads, while those with longer and more complicated names frantically scribbled down the last characters.

"Very well. China and Spain, go with England."

The last one glared towards Germany.

"Not trustworthy, am I?"

Their de facto leader deepened his frown.

"Just in case."

Not seeing a good reason to argue, England reluctantly allowed the ancient nation and his former rival to flank him as he walked around the long table, making sure that each country had written their own name only on the slip of paper that they submitted.

"While the names are being collected, let's proceed to the next order of business. We must assign the leaders for each continent."

Australia raised his hand.

"I guess I'll just be going along with the rest of Oceania since I'm also a continent on my own."

Germany nodded as he wrote himself a note.

"Point taken. Now then, Asia has forty-nine countries, Europe has forty-four, Africa has fifty-nine, North America has twenty three, Oceania has fourteen, and South America has twelve. Seeing as Asia has more countries, I'd suggest that Russia join Europe as a continent for now. If that's alright with you."

The blonde nation looked slightly wary as he looked towards the largest country in the room, the others slightly fearful for his reaction. To their relief, Russia nodded once and did not appear scornful of the idea. Swallowing, Germany turned and continued his agenda.

"Frankly, I don't think any leader can handle any more than twenty at a time should issues arise. Therefore I suggest that continents with large numbers of countries should have more than one leader."

The world nodded and muttered in agreement. Canada glanced over at England, who had just finished collecting the last of the names and was returning to his seat.

"In any case, the leaders should be countries with a strong voice in world issues and stable overall national conditions. I will be responsible as one of the supervisors in Europe, but one more is needed. I'll let you figure that out for yourselves."

Europe grumbled slightly at Germany's self-appointment, but saw not to waste time protesting. France and England began arguing heatedly while Spain watched from the sides, looking as if he wanted to speak, but not entirely sure of his ability to do so. Russia too towered over them, looking particularly ominous, though not entirely hostile.

Asia looked over to Germany as China raised his hand.

"I can be one of the supervisors for Asia aru. India has volunteered to be the other one."

"Noted."

Australia stood up for Oceania.

"I'll be the leader here. We only have fourteen countries."

"Alright then."

Africa was next, and the representatives of South Africa and Egypt stood to address their peers.

"We'll handle our continent. Algeria will serve as a third if needed, since there are fifty-nine among us."

"Understood."

Germany looked pointedly at South America, who were still discussing among themselves. Finally, Brazil shrugged and stood up.

"Guess that'll be me."

As Germany scribbled down the name, the rest of the nations turned to the last continent left.

"North America, you're next aru."

The countries of the remaining continent looked at each other in uncertainty.

"Of course, America would've been the leader if he was here, but since he isn't…"

France looked pointedly at a certain young nation, who gulped and sank deeply into his chair. Seeing this, Cuba frowned and raised his hand.

"I'd say our leader should be Canada then."

Said nation squeaked in surprise at the sound of his name and looked up in fear as he saw the rest of the world looking towards him.

Mexico seemed uncertain for a moment, but nodded after a few seconds.

"Seems logical."

England paused in his argument with France to look in his direction with furrowed eyebrows.

"Canada? Are you sure? Will you be up to it?"

France glared at him and nailed him in the jaw with a fist.

"Ow!"

"Imbecile! In case you don't recall, he is a member of the G8 and the second biggest power in North America. I think he will be fine."

England scowled and muttered an apology about forgetting him again as he gingerly rubbed the bruise on his face.

Germany sighed and wrote down the name of the currently trembling North American before looking towards the still bickering continent of Europe.

"Well?"

England glared towards him as if he was responsible for the whole mess, which in theory, was correct, as he had stirred up a slight ruckus in the continent with his self-appointment.

"Yes, we have decided it will be me."

France glared and stepped on his rival's foot, but ultimately stayed silent. Russia didn't seem any less furious as he glowered at his reluctantly accepted leader, but likewise did not protest.

"Good, then it is settled. All that we have left to do now is draw our teams."

England stood up and walked towards the hat, aware that he was once again being flanked by China and Spain. He picked it up and brought it to the front of the room and placed it before the whiteboard before turning to address the waiting nations.

"We will draw first since we're already here. After that, we'll start from Germany and go counter-clockwise. There must be at least three people at the front of the room at all times to confirm the validity of your draw. If you're called into a team by someone else, come up here and stand with them. If you accidentally draw your own name or the name of someone already on a team, simply throw it in the waste bin. When you've all gathered, walk to the side of the room so we can easily discern the groups at the end."

Canada paled. He was sitting three seats counter-clockwise from Germany, with only France and America's empty seat between them.

England was first, and as he reached towards the hat, China made sure to stir up the names before he stuck his hand in.

"Eye's closed aru."

The island nation glared at him before complying, turning his head the other way for good measure. The room was silent save for the rustling of paper as England pulled out three slips.

He scrutinized them for a few seconds before announcing his team aloud, China looking over his shoulder to ensure he wasn't making up any of them.

"Denmark, New Zealand, Netherlands, you're with me."

The three nations glanced towards each other before rising to join their new group mate. The four proceeded to the side of the room as China prepared for his turn.

"Switzerland, Austria, Sweden. We'll be working together aru."

The former two looked at each other in surprise before huffing and looking away in disdain, rising sulkily to join China at the front of the room. Sweden followed a short while behind, a silent giant tracing their footsteps.

Spain went next, covering his hands and facing the other way as he too pulled forth the names of his group.

"France, South Korea, India."

Shortly after the second and third groups had left the front of the room, Germany stood up and walked towards the hat. Canada hunched his shoulders, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves as he rose and followed, seeing as France had already been picked onto a group himself. Estonia, the one after him, trailed his lead.

Germany nodded towards him and Canada understood his silent message. Forcing his hands not to shake, he place Kumajirou on the ground and mixed the slips of paper together once more before offering the hat to his colleague. The stern nation closed his eyes and turned away as he placed a stiff hand into the pile of names, the very force of his thrust throwing Canada slightly off balance.

"Australia, Turkey, and… Scotland?"

Germany looked towards England in confusion.

"I believe you are the sole representative of the United Kingdom of Britain here, are you not?"

The island nation groaned and looked the other way.

"In a situation as dire as this one, I thought it would be best to involve as many others as possible. I placed the names of all my brothers."

Canada and Germany shared a glance before the latter handed the hat to him.

"Fine then. Australia and Turkey, let's go."

As the group of three made their way to the side of the room, Canada felt his stomach lurch as Russia, the next in line, rose to meet them at the front. Then Estonia gave him a nervous nod of encouragement as the northern country handed him the hat. He watched as the man nudged his glasses and stirred the papers once more before holding out the names to him, just as he had done seconds ago for Germany.

Inhaling deeply, Canada did as he'd seen the others before him, removing his glasses and pocketing them as he covered his eyes with a gloved hand, making sure to turn away so as to avert suspicion. He reached into the hat and felt among the rough textures of about two hundred pieces of folded paper, hoping desperately that he wouldn't pick a name that would be too difficult to work with.

At last, he distinguished the sensation of three separate slips, and uncovering his eyes, he made sure that he had the precise amount before opening them up with trembling hands. He absorbed the names printed before him, and with a voice just barely enough for the room to hear, he announced the members of the newly formed team.

"Hong Kong, Norway, and Hungary."

**End Chapter 5**

* * *

><p><strong>Note: Australia is kinda both a country and a continent, and its a little complicated to explain. It is, however, also a part of Oceania, so it made more sense to group him along that way.<strong>

**Ok, there we are, chapter five is finally out. Again, long wait, unannounced hiatus, a plethora of excuses probably no one really cares about. If you need an explanation, it's probably along the lines of what I wrote in the author's note last chapter. Huge writer's block and all, couldn't write more than a few sentences for the last couple of months. Sorry?**

**Alright, now onto the chapter. Right now, the world is having a serious issue and no one knows who to trust, so they've set up a system to stop any potential conspirers in their tracks. But is that enough? Will they achieve their objectives before the three day limit is up? And will Canada be able to work well with the team he has been grouped with?**

**Speaking of Canada, I know he doesn't have much of a presence in this chapter. I know the story is Canada-centric (at least for the moment), but I also wanted to have the other countries actively participating as well, because as sad as it is, most meetings probably do run with Canada saying little, if anything at all. His teammates aren't very familiar with him either, save for Hong Kong, who's at least his adopted brother if both having England as their guardian at one point is enough to go by.**

**See, I purposely tried to keep the teams as random as possible, which is why the members of each group tend to have had little connection beforehand, or at least, from what has been seen of canon Hetalia events. There are however nations working with those whom they are more familiar with, just as they should be if the teams were really picked randomly. **

**Btw, I was really surprised to discover that North America had so many countries, and actually more than South America. Man, I feel really stupid now. Should've paid more attention in Geography class.**

**Sorry for long author's note. Sherlockdetective99, signing out.**


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